Rival's Revenge
by BlazeTrigger21
Summary: May and Drew come to Sinnoh to visit Ash and his friends, and a friend from Ash's past comes to fight in the Lucrezia Town Tag Team Tournament. When two unlikely rivals join forces to defeat Ash, can he overcome the odds and find the one to who his heart belongs to? Advanceshipping. AshxMay, SatoshixHaruka.
1. Chapter 1

Hello fellow Pokémon fans! Welcome to Rival's Revenge, a tale of action, romance, comedy, and all that good stuff you've come to expect from the anime. This is my first attempt at publishing fanfiction online, so I welcome any constructive criticism in the name of improving the quality of the story. No flaming of the anime or the shipping please. This fanfiction is mainly Advanceshipping, or AshxMay, with several others to help increase the drama, so now you know what to expect from this story. With that being said, let's get this show on the road, shall we?

Author Note: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters. No copyright infringement whatsoever.

Rivals' Revenge

Chapter 1: Old Friends and Same Problems

It was an early morning at the docks of Lake Valor. The sun's rays glistened on the calm waves brushing along the decks. The calm of the dawn was enough to put anyone at ease. However, that didn't stop a certain raven-haired boy from getting worked up.

"Come on, where is she!?"

A young Pokémon trainer was pacing back and forth across the dock, waiting for a particular boat to pull into port. Impatience face as he practically made a hole from the constant walking.

"Pi pika, Pikapi," a small voice said from the boy's shoulder. It was a small mouse Pokémon with bright yellow fur and small red cheeks. It poked its lightning bolt-shaped tail against the boy's cheek, getting his attention. The boy could see his companion looking at him with its small black eyes, trying to calm his partner down.

"Pikachu's right Ash," a girl spoke from in front of them. "You've gotta calm down." The young woman was sitting on the dock in front of the young man, her pink boots skimming the surface of the water. She wore a black top with a white shirt underneath, connecting to a short pink skirt. Her long blue hair was covered by a white beanie cap with a pink Poke-ball symbol on it. The young woman was carrying a small blue Pokémon in her arms, resembling a young, blue penguin with black beady eyes. The two looked at Ash as he started to stop his pacing, both with a concerned look.

"Yeah, but Dawn, the ship's an hour late," Ash responded to his friend. "I just hope something didn't happen ya know."

"The boat's probably just had some engine trouble," another young man with spiky brown hair said distractedly. "I wouldn't worry too much." This young man was standing next to Dawn, working a small blue device in his hands, trying to get it to work. He wore a green shirt with an orange and green vest, cargo pants and sneakers. The young man began to grow frustrated as the gadget refused to work, causing him to focus even more on it.

"Yeah, well when she talked to me the other night, she said 11am," Ash said, thinking back to the events three nights ago. The trio was settling in the Pokémon center when Ash received a phone call from Slateport City, from a dear friend he hadn't heard from in a long time.

"Hey Ash," a young woman said to Ash over the video phone. "It's been a while huh?"

"May," Ash said with a smile on his face. "Yeah it has. How've you been?"

"Great lately," May said cheerfully. "The Johto Grand Festival finished up a while ago."

"Yeah, I saw your performance on TV. You were amazing out there."

"Yeah well," May started, her smile starting to lower a little. "I got second place, right behind Solidad again. Not very impressive, huh?"

"Hey that's nothin to be ashamed of," Ash said, trying to cheer his friend up. "It's your third Grand Festival. It's a lot harder than gym battles from what I've seen. You should be proud."

"Yeah I guess," May said, not convinced by her friend's words. "Anyway, how's your journey going? Do you have all your badges yet?"

"Not yet. I've got seven so far. Just one more left until I can enter the Sinnoh League. So what about you? What are you gonna do now that the Grand Festival's over?"

"Actually, I have a little surprise for you about that."

"A surprise?" Ash asked. "What do ya mean?"

"I'm coming back to Sinnoh. I thought I'd come visit you guys again and cheer you on at the Sinnoh League."

"Really? That's great! So when are you coming?"

"In three days at Lake Valor. I should be there at 11am."

"11am it is. I'll see you then."

"See you then." And with that May hung up, leaving Ash to tell the others of the good news. It was then that Ash was shaken out of his flashback by Brock's continuous grunts.

"Brock, what are you doing?" Ash asked his disgruntled friend.

"I'm trying to get our next destination on the Poke gear," Brock responded, continuing to press buttons. "We've got a lot of ground to cover if we're gonna reach Sunnyshore City."

"Yeah I know," Ash said, starting to get excited. "I can't wait. Just one more badge to go and then it's straight to the Sinnoh League. Right Pikachu?"

"Pi Pikachu," Pikachu responded, showing the same confidence his trainer did. Before the conversation could continue, the sound of a large foghorn rang in the trainers' ears, shifting their attention to the ocean. A large ship could be made out on the horizon, causing Ash and Pikachu's faces to light up.

"Hey do you think that's…" Ash said, starting to get his hopes up.

"HEEEEEEYYY GUUUYYYSSS!" a voice shouted from the ship, causing all three of the trainers to become excited. They saw a young woman waving from the bow of the ship, yelling as loud as she could.

"It's May!" Dawn said excitedly. The trio ran towards the pier where May's shipped docked, anxiously waiting for her to step down. The boat came to a stop and connected to the flight of stairs on the dock, a massive group of people walking down to the pier. In the middle was a girl with brown hair covered by a green bandana pushing through the crowd in a hurry.

"Hey May," Ash shouted from outside the crowd. "Over here!"

"Ash," May shouted back as she ran towards the boy. "It's so good to see you." As she reached the group, she gave Ash a big hug, Ash hugging her back. As she let go, she went to hug Dawn and Brock respectively. "I've missed you guys so much."

"Same here," Dawn said, chuckling slightly. "It's been a while since the Wallace Cup."

"I still can't believe you decided to come all the way here just to see us," Brock added.

"Hey, she's here and that's all that matters," Ash said with a grin, causing May to smile.

"Well, I see you're still the same as ever Ash," a voice said from behind May. The group saw the person the voice came from, a young man about the same age as Ash. The young man wore a black shirt with a purple jacket, teal jeans and black shoes. He walked toward the group with his hands shoved in his jean pockets, a smirk present on his face.

"Drew?" Ash said, surprised to see his old acquaintance. "What are you doing here?"

"I decided to tag along with May," Drew said as he flipped a strand of his green hair out of his eyes. "I had nothing to do after the Grand Festival."

"Yeah, I saw the whole thing," Ash said. "You placed third right?"

"How May of all people beat me is beyond me," Drew sneered. "Probably just dumb luck."

"Hey, I beat you in the Kanto Grand Festival, and in Blackthorne City," May stated, ticked at the comment.

"Like I said, dumb luck."

"Why you little…"

"May, who is this?" Dawn asked, not able to follow along. "Is this your boyfriend or something?"

"What!?" May startled, slightly blushing. "No way, of course not."

"Heh, she wishes," Drew snickered, causing May to get mad.

"Oh please, a Toxicroak's more appealing than you."

"Ok, calm down you two." Brock said, trying to defuse the situation. He then turned his attention to Dawn. "Drew's a rival of May's. They've been competing against each other since Hoenn."

"And you're Dawn right?" Drew asked, bring her attention to him.

"Wait, you know who I am?" Dawn asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, you're the one who beat May in the Wallace Cup."

"Well, uh…" Dawn stammered, not sure of what to say. As the group talked, several sets of eyes were watching from atop a nearby rooftop. Two people could be seen, a man with shoulder-length blue hair and a woman with long red hair both wearing a white uniform with an "R" insignia on their shirts. Next to them stood a small cat Pokémon that could stand on two legs, a small gold token adorning its forehead. The man was watching the group through a set of binoculars, eyeing the Pikachu in their midst.

"I can't believe my eyes," the man with the binoculars said. "Twerps new and old."

"Mime mime mi-mime mime mime." a small clown-like Pokémon said as it copied James movements. The Pokémon had a small pink body and thin-lengthy arms with stubby blue legs. It had three red orbs on its chest and a blue clown-like hat head.

"What are you talking about James?" the woman apathetically said as she inspected her nails. A large, light blue Pokémon stood beside her with a blank stare. It had large fin-shaped arms and a black tail, its eyes narrow and impossible to see.

"Jessie, it's the headkerchief twerpette again." James said, passing the binoculars to his partner. Jessie looked into them to see their prey, including May and Drew.

"I guess Johto must have kicked her out." Jessie pondered. "And I see she brought the playboy twerp along for the ride."

"It's a twoip convention." the Scratch Cat Pokémon joked to his friends. "Wonda what they're doin all da way out here?"

"Silly Meowth," Jessie grinned, the wheels in her head turning. "They're here to hand us all of their primo Pokémon of course."

"Wobbuffet!" the blue Pokémon said out of the blue, saluting for no reason.

"A Pokémon well stolen is a Pokémon well-earned." James grinned as well. "All we need is the proper plan to poach said primos."

"Leave dat to moi." Meowth said as he pulled out a controller from behind his back. The trio looked down at their targets, starting to chuckle deviously at the plan they were about to set in motion as the group, the young trainers unsuspecting of what would happen.

"So how's your family doing back in Petalburg City?" Brock asked the coördinator as they walked towards the Pokémon Center.

"They're doing great." May said. "Max is getting ready to start his own journey soon. He even got a Slakoth from Dad after he got his trainer's license."

"That's great," Ash chimed in. "I always knew he'd be a great trainer. Maybe one day I'll have a battle with him."

"That's all he could talk about when he got his license. How he wished he could battle his mentor. It was kinda cute to be honest."

"Just like Max." Brock chuckled, remembering the young man's passion for Pokémon. "How are all your Pokémon doing?"

"They're all as healthy as can be, thanks to your advice. And I know one who's been dying to see you guys again." May said as she pulled out a Poké Ball. "Glaceon, come on out." She tossed the device into the air and revealed a Pokémon with ice blue fur, standing on all fours. The Pokémon's light blue fur went into teal as it reached its paws and its diamond-shaped tail. It had long pointed ears with teal bangs in front of its face, two long bangs hanging from the side of its head. The Pokémon's fur shined as if it was covered with crystals as it looked to its master and her friends.

"Glaceon." Dawn said excitedly as she gazed at the Pokémon. "Oh it's been way too long." Pikachu and Piplup removed themselves from their trainers to come down and greet their old friend.

"Pika pikachu," Pikachu greeted his old friend.

"Piplup," Piplup added.

"Glaceon," Glaceon replied with a ring in her voice, happy to see them again.

"So is visiting us the only reason you're here May?" Dawn asked her friend. "Don't get me wrong, we're happy to see you after all this time but I thought you'd go back home to spend time with your family."

"I already did," May replied to the blunette. "I visited them a few days ago and came to Lake Valor from Slateport City. I called Ash from the Pokémon Center there before I came here."

"But is that all?" Ash asked his friend.

"Well… I do have one other reason for coming…" May said with a nervous tone in her voice.

"May, are you ok?" Ash asked with concern in his voice. "Is something wrong?"

"She's fine Ketchum," Drew said with an annoyed tone. "Quit reading so much into things."

"Hey!" Ash flared at the young man. "What's your problem Drew?"

"Take it easy, both of you." May said, trying to calm the boys down. Ash backed off slightly while Drew regained his composure. "By the way, Drew don't you have a new Pokémon you've been bragging about for days?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"I guess I can show everyone my new ace." Drew smirked as he pulled out a Poké Ball of his own. "Come on out." Drew tossed the Poké Ball into the air and revealed a large yellow Pokémon standing on two legs. The Pokémon had yellow fur with a white underbelly, its arms, legs, and back covered in yellow fur. Its tail was yellow with several black rings around it leading to a red orb at the end. The Pokémon had a long neck with several black rings around it leading to its head, its ears sharing the yellow and black pattern and another red orb adorning its head. Its fur had a healthy luster to it as well as the orbs on its body as it looked at the trainers with its black eyes.

"Ammm," the Pokémon called out as the trainers looked.

"Whoa what's that?" Dawn said as she pulled out a pink device and opened the cover. "Let's see what my Pokédex has to say about you, shall we?"

"Ampharos, the Light Pokémon," Dexette said. "The bright light on its tail can be seen far away. It has been treasured since ancient times as a beacon."

"An Ampharos huh?" Ash said, impressed by the Pokémon. "Nice catch Drew."

"Whoa its looks so pretty," Dawn said as she admired the Pokémon, Piplup gazing at it too. "Where did you get it?"

"I caught it back when it was a Flaafy," Drew explained to the blunette. "It evolved into an Ampharos when I won my fifth ribbon. I've been training it ever since."

"It has a nice coat to it." Brock commented. "It's nice to know you still keep your Pokémon in such good condition."

"Of course," Drew said as he flipped a strand of hair. "I take this seriously, unlike some people…" And with that, May looked at the young man with a genuine look of annoyance.

"What, and I don't?" May fumed at her rival.

"I didn't say anything about you," Drew smirked. "I'm just making a simple observation."

"Why you…" May said, starting to let her anger show.

"Alright Drew, that's enough." Ash said as he watched, unable to let it go any further.

"Sheesh, calm down." Drew said as he smirked, causing Ash to get angry. Before anything else could be said, three mechanical arms came down on Pikachu, Glaceon, and Ampharos and pulled them into the sky, shocking all the trainers. The trainers looked to where the mechanical arms lead and found a large, Meowth-shaped balloon floating in the sky. The group saw two humans and a Meowth cackling as they held their prey.

"Look here," Jessie cackled. "One Pikachu all wrapped up to go."

"Ampharos and Glaceon too." James added. "It's a Team Rocket triple play."

"Hip hip hooray!" The trio cheered as the Pokémon called out to their trainers, unable to reach them from so high in the air.

"What the?!" Ash gasped.

"Wait, don't tell me…" May pondered to the group, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Listen, are those old and new twerps I hear?" Jessie asked to no one in particular, waiting for an answer

"Their stereo shrieks are loud and clear." James added, standing right beside her.

"Floating on the wind," Jessie cried out, throwing her arms into the air.

"Past the stars," James followed, copying his partner.

"In your ear." Meowth added, pointing an arm into the air.

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace," Jessie said with her hands on her hips.

"Dashing hope putting fear in its place," James added with his arms crossed.

"A rose by any other name's just as sweet," Jessie said holding a red rose.

"When everything's worse, our work is complete," James said with a blue rose in his hand.

"Jessie," she introduced herself as she blew a kiss.

"And it's James," he did the same as he pointed to himself.

"And Meowth are the names," Meowth said as he hoisted a paw into the air.

"Putting the do-gooders in their place," Jessie said with a smirk.

"We're Team Rocket," James added with his own smirk.

"In your face!" All three ended as they pointed at the group.

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet saluted.

"Mime, mime-mime!" Mime Jr. added.

"Team Rocket!" The group said in unison, minus Drew, at the trio of thieves.

"These guys again?" Drew asked with an annoyed look on his face. "These guys are still bugging you?"

"Unfortunately…" Dawn replied with a sweat drop. "They never learn their lesson no matter how many times we blast them off."

"Pip Piplup," Piplup answered.

"Hey, we're right here you know!" Jessie yelled from the balloon.

"Let Pikachu and the other Pokémon go right now!" Ash yelled, his anger growing.

"You know da answer to dat so we're not going to waste our breath." Meowth taunted as he pushed a button on the remote. The arm that held Pikachu quickly zoomed up to the balloon, catching the Pokémon off guard. The Pokémon began to charge electricity into its cheeks and targeted the thieves.

"Pika-CHUUUUU!" Pikachu said as he released a huge Thunderbolt at the trio, However, Meowth held a metal dish in front of him and allowed the attack to hit, bouncing off and hitting the Pokémon with his own move, causing the Pokémon to cry out in pain.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as Team Rocket grabbed the injured Pikachu and placed it into a red box with a glass window. Pikachu barely moved as Team Rocket held the box in their hands, cackling once again.

"Nice huh?" James mocked as he held the cage in his arms. "Any attack that hits that dish gets sent right back."

"And on that note we bid you farewell." Jessie said as Meowth pushed another button. The balloon began to fly towards the outskirts of the city, still holding the other two Pokémon in the mechanical arms.

"No you don't," Ash muttered as he pulled out a Poké Ball. "Staraptor, use Brave Bird and free the Pokémon." Ash threw the Poké Ball and revealed his Pokémon, a large bird with gray feathers, and a white underbelly with a zigzag pattern on it, a strand of red feathers on its head and covering its eye. Staraptor flew high into the sky and rose above Team Rocket's balloon. It then performed a dive bomb towards the arms, its body engulfed in flames. Staraptor then spread its wings and the flames then turned into a blue energy that surrounded it, connecting with the arms and slicing both apart, freeing the two captives. The two Pokémon fell towards the ground as Staraptor continued to dive down.

"Ampharos, return." Drew said as he pointed the Poké Ball at his falling Pokémon. A red beam came from it and hit Ampharos, causing it to disappear into the beam and back into the ball. Drew felt his worry fade away as he placed the ball back on his belt. May ran towards where Glaceon was about to fall and held out her arms, unable to get her Poké Ball out in time. She ran right in front of the Pokémon and caught her in her arms, falling down as she caught her.

"Glaceon, are you ok?" May looked at her friend with concern.

"Glace," Glaceon answered, licking her trainer's cheek, causing her to giggle.

"Oh no!" Meowth yelled out in disbelief.

"Hey we stole those fair and square!" James yelled at the twerps.

"The nerve of a twerp to steal from a thief." Jessie fumed at the group.

"Staraptor, use Aerial Ace on the balloon!" Ash ordered. Staraptor used the momentum from the dive bomb to speed itself up and pull itself up towards the balloon, moving at blinding speed. The Predator Pokémon hit the balloon and a large gash appeared in it as he flew away, air quickly escaping it.

"Huh?" Team Rocket gasped as they noticed the gash in the balloon. As the air hissed, the balloon sped to the ground at a frightening speed, both Team Rocket and Pikachu yelling as it came closer and closer to the earth, flying out of sight from the trainers.

"Look's like Team Rocket's-!" Before the trio could finish their signature phrase, they felt themselves hit the ground hard, the balloon still outside the city. After a few seconds, movement could be seen from below the now deflated balloon. Jessie had thrown the balloon away from her and created an opening for them to escape. But the three felt in no shape to move.

"Uhhh," Jessie groaned as she walked out of the wreck. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate rides like that?"

"I don't think you'll find any disagreement Jess," James said as he stumbled out, Pikachu still in the cage in his arms.

"Come on," Meowth said as he bounded out of the wreck. "We have to go now. Da twoips are probably right behind us."

"Probably, but I don't even know where we are. Let alone where to run to." James said as he looked around.

"Who cares, we have Pikachu at least so let's get out of here before something else happens." Jessie yelled at the two. The two shook their heads as they left the balloon and sprinted away from the city.

Meanwhile, on a road outside of Lake Valor, two figures could be seen sleeping in the branches of a large tree. One was a young man with brown hair with red strands, his hands holding the back of his head; the other was a humanoid Pokémon resembling a wolf. The Pokémon had a human sized body with raven-black fur on its chest and back and gold fur on its arms and legs, the black fur reaching its paws on its arms and legs. Its hands and feet were paws with a small spike on the back of its hands. Its face was like that of a wolf's, having a large pointed nose and gold ears pointing upwards, two bangs on each side of its head visible. The center of the Pokémon's face shared the same black fur spreading out into the gold fur on the outside of its body. Its arms were crossed and its back was facing towards the trunk of the tree with its gold tail laying off of the branch, sleeping peacefully until its bangs started to rise, its red eyes following suit as it turned towards the boy in the opposite tree branch. The Pokémon grunted once at the young man, who had seemed to not have reacted.

"You sense something Lucario?" The young man asked, not moving from his spot. The Pokémon did not grunt, only continued to look at its trainer. "That's good. Thought I was the only one…"

End of Chapter 1

What will become of Pikachu who's now in the hands of Team Rocket? What is May so nervous about? And who is this new character who has arrived on the scene? You'll have to read to find out, so please tune in next time.

And please remember the three Rs: Read, Rave, and Review.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello fellow anime fans, BlazeTrigger here. Well, how did you like the first chapter? I forgot to mention that the story takes place after the Sinnoh Grand Festival a few days after her defeat to Zoey. This is not during the Wallace Cup, just to let you know in case you were wondering or confused. Chapter 2 is now ready to go. I hope it will answer a couple of questions, as well as raise a few as well. With that said, here is Chapter 2. Please enjoy.

Author's Note: I do not own Pokémon or the anime. No copyright infringement intended whatsoever.

Rival's Revenge

Chapter 2: An Old Face Returns: Enter Alex

The group made their way through and out of the city to where the balloon crashed, finding the wreckage near a dirt road. Ash and Brock began to search through the remains of the balloon, but were unable to find any trace of Team Rocket or Pikachu.

"Pikachu…" Ash mumbled as his fist clenched, still shaken up from what happened. May sensed his distress and walked towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Ash," May said with a soothing voice. "I'm sure Pikachu is safe."

"May's right," Dawn added. "If you can't find him here, then that means either he got out, or Team Rocket still has him."

"Yeah you're right," Ash said, calming down a little. May took her hand off of his shoulder as he began to collect his thoughts. "Let's find Team Rocket. We'll see if they have Pikachu and if not we'll start from there."

"Right." The group said as they began to walk down the road. Meanwhile, not too far away from the group, Team Rocket had managed to sprint far enough away from the group of trainers. However, their stamina had finally run out.

"I can't run anymore." James panted with his back hunched over.

"My paws are on fire," Meowth added, trying to catch his breath.

"Wobbuffet," the Patient Pokémon wheezed, sharing their pain.

"Yeah well, maybe we can stop at this tree." Jessie said as she was holding her side.

"Pika pikachu pika!" Pikachu yelled from inside its cage, banging on the glass. The trio began to laugh as Pikachu struggled in the cage, knowing that he couldn't get out.

"Don't waste your breath, Pikachu." Meowth taunted. "Dis box was designed to be unbreakable from da inside."

"And since there's no one around to save you, you might as well give up and accept your fate." James added.

"And that means…" Jessie said as they all turned to each other.

"We'll hand him over to the Boss and soon we'll all be rich." The trio sang out loud.

"Wobbuffet." Wobbuffet saluted again for no reason. As they laughed they heard a grunt coming from the branch of the tree, bringing their attention to the source of the noise. The trio saw a lupine-like Pokémon staring at them from the branch, jumping down from the tree in front of them to look at them at eye level.

"Look at dat," Meowth said, looking at the strange Pokémon. "Is dat a Lucario?" The Scratch Cat Pokémon looked at the Lucario with greed in his eyes, the Lucario glaring at the trio of thieves, glancing at the Pikachu in the glass box.

"A Lucario of a different scheme, I presume," James added, remembering the beating it received from Maylene's Lucario. "This one seems to have a different look about it than your garden-variety Lucario."

"So we'll take this one too," Jessie cackled, her greed beginning to get the better of her. "I'm sure the Boss will absolutely love this little freebie."

"Hey, you guys mind keeping it down?" A voice said from one of the tree branches. The trio of thieves looked up to see a young man sitting on one of the tree branches, resting his head against the tree, lying along the branch. The young man was looking at the trio with a half-awake look in his eye, making them somewhat tense. "Some of us are trying to take a nap here."

"Pika pika!" Pikachu yelled, trying to alert the young man of what was happening.

"What da… Who da heck are you?!" Meowth yelled at the young man.

"No one worth mentioning," The young man said as he flashed a small smirk. "I may be wrong but I'm guessing that Pikachu doesn't belong to you guys. How about you let it go and go away?"

"You've got some nerve giving orders to us," James yelled at the young man, "Don't you know who we are?"

"Can't say I do," the young man said as he looked at the sky. "Am I supposed to care?"

"Listen, is that an arrogant twerp I hear?" Jessie asked, starting their signature motto.

"Its ignorant cries are loud and clear," James added, joining in again.

"We already went over dis!" Meowth interrupted the two humans.

"Are you guys gonna keep making noise?" The young man said, scooting up from his spot and turning his head to face the trio. "If you trying to show off, it's not working. Just hand over the Pikachu and I won't be cruel."

"How dare you!" Jessie steamed, "No one talks to me like that and lives to brag about it." She then pulled out a Poke ball from her belt, her eyes glaring at the young man. "I think it's high time to teach you a few manners."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the young man said, a small grin starting to grow on his face. "It isn't smart picking a fight with someone you know nothing about."

"We could say the same thing twerp!" James yelled at the young man, also pulling out a Poke ball from his belt.

"Twerp huh?" the young man said, a dash of surprise in his voice, before going into a slight laugh. "I've been called a lot of things before, but 'twerp' is a new one."

"Fine, have it your way!" Jessie said, her patience finally at an end. "Seviper, go!" Jessie threw the device and it opened, revealing a large snake with black and gold scales. The end of its black and red tail curved in the shape of a blade. Its head was covered with gold scales, two red fangs protruding from its mouth. Its blood-red eyes were fixated on the Lucario, its tail swinging ready to strike.

"Carnivine, you too!" James added throwing his Poke ball. The device opened and revealed what appeared to be a walking Venus Fly Trap. The Pokémon had an oval-shaped yellow body with two large leaves acting as arms, its legs consisted of several green and red vines. Its head was reminiscent of a plant's, large with a wide mouth, several large teeth protruding from it. Its small black eyes were locked on to the Lucario. However, the Bug Catcher Pokémon turned around to its trainer, lunging at him and taking a giant bite of his head, causing James to scream in agony. "You're supposed to be nipping Lucario's noggin, not mine!" James grabbed his Pokémon and pulled him off of his head, throwing him towards the Lucario. "Use Bite."

"Seviper, use Poison Tail," Jessie said as her Pokémon charged at the Lucario. Its tail began to glow a light purple as it slithered its way towards Lucario. Carnivine flung itself right beside Seviper as it opened its mouth wide.

"Alright, have it your way," the young man chuckled as he rested his head against the tree again. "Lucario, go nuts."

And with that simple command, Lucario's eyes narrowed as the attack came closer and closer to his face. Just as Seviper was about to land the blow, it felt its tail stop against its will. The Pokémon saw that Lucario was holding the glowing tail by one of its hands, his hand twitching only slightly as he held the Snake Pokémon helpless.

"Lucario…" The young man said, causing the Aura Pokémon to look at his other opponent lunging at him. It grabbed Seviper's tail with both of its hands and began to toss it in front of Carnivine, much to its surprise. Carnivine looked surprised as he saw his partner flying towards him but was unable to do anything, colliding against the Fang Snake Pokémon as they both fell to the ground. Jessie and James shot surprised looks at their Pokémon before snapping out of it, anger in both of their eyes.

"I'm not going to stand for this," Jessie seethed. "Seviper, use Bite."

"Carnivine, use Vine Whip," James added. Both Pokémon began to charge at Lucario, Carnivine protruding two vines from its body as he charged. Lucario just stood there staring at the duo, waiting for his trainer's order.

"Close Combat," the young man said with a serious tone. Lucario then took a quick fighting stance, one paw straightened out with another close to his stomach. His legs were spread out to match the position of his arms and his eyes were fixated on the oncoming target. Lucario waited for the duo to get closer and closer until they were finally in range. As they finally grew close enough, Lucario darted towards the two and delivered palm attacks in rapid succession, the first palm striking Carnivine with the second quickly striking Seviper. Lucario turned his body to attack Seviper again with his left and attacked Carnivine again with his right after turning towards him again. The dance of blows continued at a blinding speed as Lucario stepped with a certain elegance in his moves, Team Rocket in complete shock as he landed blow after blow. Lucario landed one last two-handed palm attack at both Pokémon, sending them flying into their trainers and Meowth who all had a look of panic on their faces. As they crashed into the group, the cage that held Pikachu flew out of James' grip, causing it to crash into the ground and break open, Pikachu quickly scampering out of the glass cage. The Electric Mouse Pokémon quickly turned to the trio with an angry look in his eyes, sparks flying from his cheeks.

"Uhhh, I'm getting dizzy just watching it." Jessie said, rubbing her head.

"What da?!" Meowth gasped. "Pikachu's free! Come on, we gotta get it back before-."

"Uh Meowth, I think we have bigger problems than that right now." James said with fear in his voice, pointing at the two angry Pokémon.

"Lucario, use Dark Pulse!" The young man said. Lucario began gathering energy in his hands, slowly turning pitch black as the sphere of energy grew larger and larger. Lucario then launched the wave of energy, rings of dark energy flying towards the group.

"Pika-CHUUUUU!" Pikachu yelled as a bolt of electricity ripped from his body, also heading towards the thieves. Team Rocket began to scream as the attacks came closer and closer until they finally connected, a large explosion sending them flying far into the air.

"Well that was unpleasant to say the least," Jessie said calmly as she crossed her arms.

"Beaten by an unknown twerp… that's just not right." James said with a sad tone in his voice.

"I'm thinkin you two are the ones dat ain't right." Meowth said under his breath.

"Wobbuffet," the Patient Pokémon saluted.

"My mistake. Da tree of you ain't right." Meowth said as he felt even more depressed.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The trio yelled as they flew farther into the sky.

"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet called again as they flew out of sight, a twinkle in the sky appearing then disappearing in a flash. The young man then threw his legs over the branch and jumped down from the tree to the ground to meet his partner.

"Ah man, I can't believe those morons woke me up," the brunette yawned as he walked towards the two Pokémon. "It's a shame they couldn't back up all that tough talk, right Lucario?" Lucario smirked as he looked to his trainer, rather proud of his little show. The young man then turned to face Pikachu, who was trying to make sense of the situation. He then crouched down to Pikachu's height, calming down the Pokémon a little.

"You ok little guy?" The young man asked, looking at the Electric Mouse in the eye.

"Pika…" Pikachu nodded to him, suddenly remembering the situation that he was in. "Pi pika chu Pikapi, pikachu pi kachu chu," Pikachu said to him, a look of worry on his face.

"So those guys took you from your trainer and you don't know where he is now, that right?" The young man said, surprising the small Pokémon.

"Pika…" Pikachu gasped, knowing that the young man guessed exactly what he said. He was amazed that a human other than Ash was able to understand him so easily.

"Surprise huh? Well, I kinda got the gist of it from those three, but to be honest I kinda cheated," the young man chuckled, pointing to Lucario with his thumb, Lucario looking away awkwardly, not wanting to be involved in the conversation. "Anyway, we got you out of that cage. We might as well help you find your trainer, sound good?"

"Pikachu," Pikachu said with a smile, agreeing with him, causing the young man to give a small smile himself. Lucario gave a small grunt at his trainer, his grin now gone from his face.

"Come on Lucario, we can't just leave him out here to fend for himself," The young man said to his partner as he turned his head to him. "Have a heart." His comment was met with another grunt, this time a little more sympathetic compared to the somewhat harsh grunt from before. "I know we have to keep moving, but it's just not right to just walk away. You know you feel the same way." Lucario looked at Pikachu for a second or two, brewing over what his trainer said. He then gave a sigh, his eyes closing slightly with his head slinking down, causing a small grin to grow on the young man's face.

"I knew it," the young man said to himself out loud, causing Lucario to grunt with an annoyed tone to it. He then began to stand back up, looking towards the dirt road. "Anyway, we won't get anything done just standing around here. Let's start walking from where those guys came from. My guess is that they were running straight from where they did the deed, so that seems as good a place as any to start. Sound good?"

"Pikachu," the Pokémon nodded at the young trainer.

"PIKACHU!" a voice called out, causing the group to look towards the road. Pikachu's ears perked up as he walked closer to the sound, recognizing the voice. A figure could be seen running up the road towards the tree. Pikachu's eyes widened as he saw his trainer running towards him, his friends running right behind him.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cheered as he sprinted towards his trainer, jumping straight into his arms.

"Pikachu," Ash said, hugging his friend tight. "I was so worried about you. Are you ok, buddy?"

"Pika Pikachu," Pikachu said to his friend, making his way up to his shoulder.

"Wow that was fast," the young man said to himself with a slight chuckle. "Damn, I'm good." Lucario gave a slight grunt at his trainer, causing him to look at his Pokémon. "I know, I was just kidding. Sheesh, you really need to grow a sense of humor man." Lucario just shrugged his shoulders with his usual smirk as the young man looked at the trainer. Something bugged him as he looked at the young man he inadvertently helped. He tried to figure it out as he examined the young man and his group of friends, finding something familiar about his tan skin, his raven hair, the lightning bolt marks on his cheeks, his auburn eyes. As he looked, his eyes began to widen, finally remembering something from a long time ago. The young man walked up to the group as Ash stroked Pikachu below the chin, Ash and the group looking at the young trainer who helped their friend. The young man wore a long-sleeved black shirt covered by an open tan jacket, with dark blue jeans and black sneakers. His hands wore dark brown leather gloves with only the thumb and index finger revealed on both, the rest covered by the glove. He wore a retracted Poke ball around his neck that connected to a small brown necklace with another necklace going into his shirt, unable to be seen. The young man had long, spiky brown hair with the top of his hair sticking out in many directions and the back and sides of his hair somewhat more tame, with several strands in front of his eyes. However, the trainers also saw what looked like dark red strands of hair coming from his head, red completely to the root. The trainer's brown eyes also had a red tint to them as he looked back at the group of trainers.

"Hey, so you're the one who saved Pikachu right?" Ash said to the brunette. "Thanks for saving him."

"Don't sweat it, happy to help." the young man said. "But I gotta say it's been a while man." he with a small grin on his face, causing Ash's to grow a little surprised. "I almost didn't recognize you there for a sec."

"Uhh… yeah it has," Ash said sheepishly, not exactly knowing who the young man was.

"How's your mom doing?" the young man asked. "Is she still tending to that garden of her's?"

"Yeah she's still doing great." Ash said with an awkward chuckle.

"That's good to hear," the young man said with a smile on his face.

"By the way, do I know you?" Ash asked, not recognizing the young man. His friends sweat dropped when he said the comment; a little surprised that Ash would continue to speak to someone he didn't know so casually.

"I know I- wait you don't remember me?" The young man asked, a little shocked by the comment. "Damn, I mean I know it's been a while but come on man." The brunette looked down and began to mumble to himself, much to the group's dismay. "I can't believe I just assumed that he remembered me. And here I am just talking about things like we were just talking few days ago. Now they think I'm some kinda weirdo… man this is so uncool…" The young man scratched his head a little, beginning to ponder something before finally an idea came to him. "Alright, I know you'll remember this." Before Ash could ask what he was talking about, the young man began to move several strands of his own hair in front of his eyes, only a small part of his eyes escaping the veil he created. The group looked at him with confusion before he finally said something, though not in his usual voice. "Hey Kid, are you trying to pick a fight with me or something?" the young man said in a somewhat stand-offish way, his voice sounding like a child's. The group looked at him with a look of skepticism, while Ash's eyes began to widen as he looked at the young man.

"Alex…?" Ash asked, starting to recognize the young man in front of him.

"Haha, in the flesh," the young man said in his normal voice as he moved the excess strands of hair from his eyes. "Took you long enough to figure it out."

"Yeah, I remember you were the only one who ever called me Kid," Ash chuckled. "Though I kinda wished you'd forget about that name."

"Hmmm… I'm afraid not. 'Kid' just suits you better if you ask me."

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?!" Dawn said out loud, catching everyone off-guard.

"Sorry Dawn," Ash said with a slight chuckle. "Guess I got a little carried away." Alex and Lucario began to walk up to the rest of the group, a small smile on Alex's face. "Guys, I'd like you to meet a very old friend of mine."

"Alex Mercer," the young man introduced himself, giving a slight bow to the travelers. "Pleasure to meet ya." Alex then turned to Lucario, who had an almost disappointed face on. "Oh and the sourpuss here is Lucario." Alex chuckled slightly as he pointed as his partner, who merely flashed a small smirk at him, causing Alex to look at him with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "What's that supposed to mean?" he said to his partner. Lucario only gave another grunt, causing Alex's annoyance to reach another level. "Hahaha, very funny," he said with a sarcastic tone, causing everyone to look at the two. The two looked at the group with an embarrassed look on their faces, knowing their blunder just received unwanted attention. "Sorry, that kinda happens from time to time."

"Don't worry, it's fine." May said. "I'm May"

"And my name's Dawn," Dawn chimed in.

"I'm Brock, nice to meet you," Brock added.

"I'm Drew," Drew said nonchalantly.

"Nice to meet you all," Alex said as he looked as Ash walked towards May and Dawn. "So what are you doing out in Sinnoh, Kid? I'm guessing you're here to compete in the Sinnoh League?"

"Yeah, I only need one more badge and I'm in." Ash said with confidence. "How bout you? I don't think you ever told me whether or not you're competing in leagues."

"Yeah, I'm a league trainer." Alex said matter-of-factly. "I've got my eight badges and I'm doing my last minute training now. We were just on our way to Lucrezia Town right now. Isn't that where you guys were going?"

"Lucrezia Town?" Brock asked.

"Wait, you seriously don't know about Lucrezia Town?" Alex asked in disbelief. "Have you guys been living in a cave or something? All right my friends, let me educate you." Alex said as he began to pace a little. "Lucrezia town is a small town outside of Lake Valor that is known for three things: the food, the romantic scenery, and the Lucrezia Town Tag Team Tournament. The tournament is always hosted a couple of months before the Sinnoh League Conference in order to draw the most trainers to the competition. Most compete to give their Pokémon one last major training session before the conference starts, so there's always a huge turnout."

"I'm guessing that's why you're heading there?" May asked. "To enter the tournament?"

"Yes and no." Alex said. "I was planning to enter the tournament for one last big workout, but I do have an ulterior motive for going there." This comment put the group off-balance while a small chuckle escaped Alex's lips. "I heard there's a pizza joint there that's supposedly the best in Sinnoh, so I feel that it's my responsibility to taste it and put the rumors to rest." The group sweat dropped as Alex began to laugh, Lucario grunting in disbelief.

"You're going all that way just for some pizza?" Drew said with a slightly annoyed tone in his voice.

"Dude, it's the little experiences in life that make it all worthwhile." Alex said with a kind of sagely wisdom in his voice. "Food is nourishment for both the body and the soul. If you eat good food, then you feel good." And with that, the group could hear someone's stomach begin to growl. The group looked to Ash, who had an embarrassed look on his face.

"Haha, I guess I was so excited about May showing up I forgot to eat this morning." Ash chuckled, causing the others to laugh.

"Like I said, food is nourishment." Alex said.

"How about we take a break for lunch?" Brock said to the group. "We need to feed the Pokémon while we're at it."

"Sounds good to me." May said with an excited voice. "It's been forever since I've had your awesome cooking."

"Hey Alex, you're in for a surprise," Dawn said with a grin. "Brock's an amazing cook. His food's some of the best we've ever tasted."

"That I don't doubt." Alex said as the group walked towards the empty field, all except for Lucario, who began to look at Pikachu with curiosity in his eyes. He stared at the small Pokémon as if he was searching for something.

"Hey Lucario," Alex shouted at his friend, snapping him back into reality. "You coming or what?" Lucario's gaze only lingered for a second before he walked towards his trainer, convinced he noticed something peculiar about the Pokémon.

End of Chapter 2

Who is this mysterious friend from Ash's past? What made Lucario so suspicious towards Pikachu? And what awaits our heroes in Lucrezia Town? You'll have to read to find out. Please tune in next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello fellow anime fans. BlazeTrigger here. Well here's Chapter 3 of Rival's Revenge. What did you think about Chapter 2? Alex will play an important role in this story but it is still Ash and May's story. So as always, constructive criticism is appreciated. Just a quick note before we start, for those who are interested in seeing the progress of the rest of my stories can visit my profile page. I keep my story status up to date and will include any info about any future stories I have in the works. I may have a sequel to this in the works, but it's still to early to say. It all depends on what you guys, the fans, want as well as my own ambition as well. Well, enough of me talking. Let's get rolling shall we? Here's Chapter 3, please enjoy.

Revision: This is the first time this has happened for this story so just to let you know this is a revision of Chapter 3. I noticed a few things wrong with some parts such as the giant paragraph describing the Pokémon as well as a few details and grammar problems. I always try to strive for excellence. That's what editing is for hahaha. I will try to catch such details in the future but if you see the "Revision" tag under the first author's note, then it's a revision. And as always, if you see any major problems concerning the structure of the story that I may miss, please feel free to review so that I can fix any problems.

Author's Note: I do not own Pokémon at all. No copyright infringement intended.

Rival's Revenge

Chapter 3: Meeting the New Face: Calm Before the Storm

"So you two were friends since you were kids?" May asked Ash, trying to find out more about the two's past.

The group had begun preparing for lunch in a clearing beside the dirt road. Brock was preparing several foodstuffs while the rest of the group had just finished setting the table, all of them sitting down sharing their experiences, as well as the events leading up to now, with multiple Pokémon eating around the table. Pikachu took his place next to Ash on the grass as he ate quietly from his bowl, with Piplup stuffing its face right beside it. Glaceon was eating right beside Pikachu, sitting rather close to the Electric Mouse Pokémon. He didn't mind, but he did think it weird for his old friend to be sitting so close. Next to them was a small brown rabbit Pokémon with white, cottony fur on its lower body and the top of its ears. The rabbit was rubbing against Pikachu with a large blush on her face, making the yellow mouse let out an awkward chuckle while Glaceon glared at the rabbit, who didn't seem to notice at all. A small, overweight Pokémon with dark-gray fur with tan on its underbelly and feet with pointy ears was devouring the large bowl of food in front of it while competing with its opponent, a small dark blue land shark with stubby arms and legs. It had a large fin on the top of its head that had a small gap in the back. The Pokémon was devouring the food with its large sharp teeth, keeping up with the gluttonous Pokémon.

To their side was several other Pokémon eating and conversing with each other. A chimp with a flaming crown with white fur on its chest and legs, and orange fur on its arms, forelegs and tail was talking to another Fire-Type Pokémon: a large bird standing on two legs with dark red feathers over its entire body, its hands two talons and a small sea weasel Pokémon with orange fur, and two tails. A yellow flotation device could be seen around the weasel's neck, leading one to believe that it was a Water-Type. A large green dinosaur-shaped Pokémon with a large pink flower on its back could be seen talking to two other Pokémon, a large green turtle Pokémon whose shell adorned three stone spikes on its right side and a small tree on its left, and a large brown mammoth Pokémon with large, ivory tusks.

Ash's Staraptor could be seen with two other Flying-Types: a white bird-like Pokémon with several red and blue symbols on its underbelly and large white wings, standing up on its toes, and a small butterfly-like Pokémon whose yellow and black wings bore beautiful patterns on it, with a long, curled-up nose. A small, blue turtle with pointy ears and a short, flowing tail could be seen eating with a small, white squirrel Pokémon with lines of blue fur going through its long, white furred tail, its small buck-teeth gnawing into the food, and a small Pokémon with a black hide with a tan underbelly, its back adorning several red spots. The young Pokémon switched between inhaling its food and talking to its friends, causing the others to give it an awkward look.

Drew's Pokémon were eating among themselves, but still near the other Pokémon. Among them was Drew's Ampharos, eating with a green, plant-like Pokémon with what looked like white petals on its head, its hands consisting of a red and blue bouquet of flowers. Two Bug-Types could be seen quietly eating their food: one was a purple butterfly-like Pokémon with broad white wings and red eyes with small light-blue arms and legs. Its companion was smaller in comparison but more intimidating, the white insect's wings adorning a red and orange eye pattern, effectively scaring any predator. Among Drew's Pokémon were two impressive specimens, both eating quietly like the rest. One looked to be a wolf-like Pokémon with moon-white fur. Its dark-blue face matched the color of the curved blade on its head resembling a scythe. The other was a large green dragon with diamond-shaped wings, its red eyes gazing at the scenery as it ate.

Helping Brock prepare the food was a small pink Pokémon with light pink skin, small stubby arms and several pink strands wrapped in a ponytail. Her lower body had a darker pink tone to it, as if she were wearing pants. A small white stone in the shape of an egg could be seen in the center of her body. Resting its head on the trunk of a nearby tree was Lucario, eating the berries that were growing from its branches, not wanting to talk to the other Pokémon. However, two Pokémon walked over to him to try to converse with the Aura Pokémon. One appeared at first glance a walking tree, a tall brown Pokémon with what looked like three shrubs attached to his long, thin arms, a kind smile showing on its face. The other was a blue toad-looking Pokémon with long blue arms, leading into its black hands. The toad had a vacant stare on its face with its teeth showing as it croaked, the small orange pouches on its cheeks inflating as he croaked monotonously. The Pokémon was crouched down to the ground while he and his friend looked toward the tree and called Lucario to join them. Lucario looked at them for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and getting up from his place, despite being comfortable where he was. The Aura Pokémon walked over to his new companions as they made their way to the sea-weasel Pokémon and his companions, still carrying a few pink berries from a small vine.

"Yep, he used to play with me and Gary back when we were kids," Ash said as he reminisced about the past. "Though we started off a lot worse than that."

"That's putting it mildly," Alex commented, joining Ash on his trip down memory lane. "The first day we met, we wound up in a giant fight."

"Yeah and the teacher had to break it up," Ash chuckled. "I remember my mom gave both of us an earful after that."

"Then I told him that he was pretty tough…" Alex started to say before a smirk grew on his face. "For a kid."

"After that, we became friends," Ash finished. "I guess it only makes sense all three of us became trainers since all we ever talked about was Pokémon and leagues."

"So what he said earlier, when he talked like a little kid," Dawn began.

"Was the first thing I ever said to him." Alex answered. "Hell of a way to start a friendship huh? But lo and behold, we became friends."

"I can't believe you've known each other for so long," Dawn said to Alex, then turning to Ash. "How come you've never mentioned him until now?"

"Hmmm…" Ash pondered aloud. "I'm not really sure to be honest. We kinda grew apart after we both started our journeys."

"Come to think of it, I don't think we ever ran into each other back in Pallet Town have we?" Alex asked.

"Huh, oh yeah." Ash said, thinking nothing of it. "That's kind of weird now that I think about it."

"Oh who cares?" Alex said after shrugging his shoulders, trying to move the conversation along. "What good is worrying about the past? We're here now, right? So don't worry about it." He then turned to May and Drew as he leaned back into his chair. "So why are you two here? Last I heard, the Grand Festival here is over so there aren't any more contests here for quite a while."

"After the Grand Festival finished up, I came here to support Ash as he competed in the Sinnoh League," May explained to her new friend.

"I see," Alex said as he sat at the table. "I get it. You want to help him the way he's helped you right?"

"Yep," May said as she looked at Ash. "I just had this urge to come and cheer for him. He's always supported me in my contests so I wanted to return the favor." Ash smiled at the comment.

"You got some good friends there, Kid," Alex said turning towards Ash and May. "Not many people would go out of their way to support someone like that."

"Yeah, I still can't believe she came." Ash said with a little accidental blush coming across his face. "I haven't seen her in so long. It's nice to have an old friend cheering for me again." Dawn, Alex, and Drew noticed the blush that ran across Ash's face. While Alex fought a growing grin that tried to creep up on him, Dawn didn't even try to hide her mischievous grin, the gears in her head turning, but decided not to say anything.. for now. Drew looked at the two skeptically, a hint of suspicion clear in his eyes. Before he could say anything, he found himself to be the center of attention thanks to the new face in the crowd.

"So how do you fit into all of this Drew?" Alex asked the coordinator, slightly catching him off guard. "Are you here to cheer him on too or just here to take in the sights?"

"I came here because I had nothing else to do," Drew said uninterested. "May said she was going to Sinnoh and I thought it would be a good chance for me to check it out before the Grand Festival starts up here again."

"So just sheer boredom huh?" Alex asked skeptically. "Somehow I highly doubt that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Drew said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing…" Alex said nonchalantly as he waved his hand in front of his face, a goofy grin spreading. "I'm just saying you could have done that on your own time and you don't seem the kind of guy who'd go out of his way to help someone out like that, so either I'm wrong or-."

"Hey Alex," Ash interrupted his friend, sensing Drew's growing annoyance. "Didn't you say you just came from Canalave City?" Alex saw what his friend was trying to do, looking at Drew and the annoyed look on his face. He knew that continuing his current train of thought would be problematic for him, so he decided to comply, turning his head towards Ash.

"Yeah I did." Alex said somewhat uninterested at the topic. "The gym leader there was tough, but in the end we won."

"Yeah, Byron and his Steel-type Pokémon were definitely a challenge." Ash said, remembering his battle with the miner and his Bastiodon. "And that was your eight badge right?"

"Yeah it was," Alex said while crossing his arms. "As for you though, you're heading to Sunnyshore City to beat the gym there and after that you're in the Sinnoh League right? You're almost there then."

"So I guess we're going to have to face each other in the Sinnoh League." Ash said with confidence in his voice. "Well, I'm not going to lose to you. I've gotten a whole lot stronger since the last time we met."

"That I don't doubt," Alex said calmly. "But that doesn't mean that I haven't gotten stronger either. I won't go easy on you."

"Well, you did take care of Team Rocket so you must have some skill," May said as she looked at Alex.

"Technically May, a newbie trainer could beat those guys," Dawn chuckled at the comment.

"Yeah they were pretty we- Wait did you say Team Rocket?" Alex asked, suddenly curious. "As in the Kanto crime gang?"

"Yeah, that's them," Ash said matter-of-factly. "Though the three we're used to facing aren't all that tough."

"They must be weak if they couldn't take on one Pokémon," Alex said with a somewhat serious tone. "They're not like the ones I fought."

"You fought Team Rocket before?" May asked.

"Let's just say… I have a little history with them." Alex said as his tone began to drop, looking down at the table. The rest of the group began to look at him with concern, while Drew looking at him with suspicion. Before they could ask anymore, the smell of food entered their noses, which only meant one thing: lunch was ready.

"Okay guys," Brock said as he made his way over to the group carrying plates, grabbing everyone's attention and snapping Alex out of his trance. "Lunch is served." Brock placed the plates of food on the table one at time as the group looked at the spread with wonder. The food was still hot as he placed it on the table, steam still rising from the food, causing everyone to slightly salivate.

"Thank you for the food," everyone said almost simultaneously. Everyone began to grab some food from the plates and eat. As they ate, a loud almost guttural noise could be heard from across the table: Ash and May devouring their food at a frightening pace. The rest of the group could barely comprehend the sight as Brock and Dawn looked at the two with disappointment, Drew with astonishment, and Alex with a raised eyebrow.

_I guess the Kid's table manners haven't improved much._ Alex thought to himself. _And May seems to be keeping up with him. That's just... Damn._ "Hey guys," Alex started to say to the two, who apparently hadn't heard him. "Guys?"

"ASH! MAY!" Dawn yelled, grabbing their attention. The two stopped to take a look at their friends, all sweatdropping at the scene, then looking at each other. As they looked at their food-covered mouths, they couldn't help but laugh slightly at how ridiculous they looked. They turned back to their food and began to eat slower, causing everyone to look at them for a second or two.

"Is it really that good?" Alex pondered to himself before picking up a sandwich from his plate. He took a bite of the food and instantly tasted the blend of flavors and spices that it was made of. Alex's eyes shot up as he continued to eat the sandwich, amazed that something so good actually existed.

"Damn Brock," Alex said as he took a bite of a sandwich. "This is good. I mean really good."

"Another satisfied customer," Brock said as he beamed from the praise.

"I told ya you were in for a surprise." Dawn said to the young man as he continued to eat.

"You weren't kidding," Alex laughed a little as he took another bite of his sandwich. "This is better than anything I've ever tasted!"

"Hey Alex, don't you think it's time to let your Pokémon out to eat?" Brock said to the young man, noticing that he hadn't let out his Pokémon yet, except for Lucario.

"Oh yeah," Alex said as he got up from his seat, putting the sandwich back on his plate. He walked towards the clearing and revealed two retracted Poké Balls in his hands, each sliding down from each sleeve. "Swampert, Electivire, come on out!" Alex said as he threw the devices into the air. The Poké balls opened and revealed his first two Pokémon: A large Pokémon with dark blue scales stood in front of the gang, holding him up with his long blue arms, its short legs unable to hold the weight its self. The Pokémon had several black fins on its body, two on its head and one near its back acting as a tail. The Pokémon had a somewhat restless look in its eye but was overshadowed by his partner: a large Pokémon in yellow fur with black streaks of fur on its body, resembling an outlet pattern on its chest. The Pokémon had large, strong arms with long black fingers, its legs resembling the same pattern. Its head adorned two bulbs that discharged a slight bolt of electricity. The Pokémon had a large grin on its face as it placed its hands on its sides. The group looked at the two Pokémon with amazement as they saw that the two in particular looked to be quite strong.

"Oh I'm not done yet," Alex said as he pulled two more Poké balls from his sleeve. "Lavitar, Dragonair, come on out." Alex said as he threw his remaining Poké Balls into the air. The devices opened and revealed a small pale-green Pokémon with small arms and legs. Its chest had a several plates of red ore on it, sitting in between two diamond-shaped holes on its stomach. The Pokémon had a long green horn on its head as well as a short tail that spread out in multiple directions. The Rock Skin Pokémon was joined by a long blue dragon with white scales running all across its underbelly. Its tail had two small blue orbs which matched the blue orb that was held under its chin. The dragon had an ivory horn on the top of its head that sat between the two fins on the sides of its head. The two other Pokémon looked at the rest of the group, Larvitar looking quite nervous as his red eyes observed the large group, Dragonair nudging it a little with her tail, trying to convince him to say hello. Larvitar began to slowly walk up to Pikachu and Piplup, trembling a little as he walked. Pikachu, sensing the young one's nervous nature, sprinted up to him and began to introduce himself.

"Pika, pi pika pikachu," Pikachu cheerfully said. Larvitar looked as though he was about to jump out of his scales, beads of sweat dropping down his face.

"L-l-lar larvi larvitar," Larvitar stuttered, still not completely over his fear. He saw Piplup running up to the young Pokémon and puffed his chest out, causing Larvitar to run behind Dragonair, clutching her tail.

"Pika, pikachu pi pika!" Pikachu scolded Piplup, causing the penguin to drop his head in embarrassment. Pikachu walked up to where Larvitar was before speaking again. "Pi pikachu pika pi. Pikachu pi pika pi chu pika. Pika pi pikachu?" Pikachu extended his tail towards Larvitar with a gentle smile on his face, causing Larvitar's nervousness to drop a little. He inched away from Dragonair and looked at Pikachu again before slowly grabbing Pikachu's tail and shaking it, a small smile growing on his face. The two began to walk toward Glaceon and Buneary, Piplup walking behind them so not to scare Larvitar.

"Oh wow," Dawn said as she eyed all of Alex's Pokémon with amazement. "These are all yours? They're incredible. Especially this one." Dawn looked at Dragonair as she directed her brown eyes toward the coordinator. Dawn noticed that Dragonair's skin had a healthy sheen to it, almost as if it was made out of marble, a trait that did not go unnoticed by May and Drew as well.

"It's so beautiful," May said, admiring the Dragon Pokémon. "It looks like something that could be in a contest."

"Really?" Alex asked, looking at his Dragonair. "We've entered a couple of them, but for some reason Dragonair doesn't really like them. Must be shy or something."

"Seriously?" Drew asked. "That's a waste of talent if you ask me."

"Hey don't blame her if she doesn't like contests," Alex said as he stroked Dragonair's chin, causing her to coo. "She just likes battles more, plain and simple."

"Hey Alex, is that all of your Pokémon?" Ash asked his friend.

"Well…" Alex said as he put a finger to his chin. "There is one more I have, but I don't bring him out for just anyone." He began to say as he grabbed the Poké ball from his necklace. "But you guys are cool so I'll give you a quick peek. Sound good?" The group began to look with anticipation as he clutched the device in his hand. "Can you guys keep a secret?" Alex asked as he pulled off the Poké ball from his necklace, a large grin on his face. The group nodded to him, causing Alex's grin to grow even larger. "Alright then, Emboar, come out and say hi!" Alex threw the Poké ball into the air and revealed a large red Pokémon that resembled a pig. The Pokémon had orange fur on its upper body and head with black fur covering its entire waist and lower body in the form of a sash, a gold infinity symbol adorning the fur sash all across it, a black unkempt tail sticking out the back of it. Its legs had dark red fur that led into black with gold lining, resembling boots, leading into two claws on its feet. Its arms had the same orange fur that led into the same black fur that led into three claws on each of its hands. The Pokémon's head wore orange fur on its face with black ears and eyebrows, a red snout with two fangs pointing up. The most noticeable feature of the pig was the beard of red fire it wore below its mouth, burning with the same boundless confidence that the Pokémon was showing to the trainers. The trainers looked at the foreign Pokémon with awe, never seeing something like it.

"Meet Emboar," Alex said with a sense of pride in his voice. "My first Pokémon and my strongest. Introduce yourself big guy."

"Emboar!" Emboar said as it brought its fists together with great force, causing a small boom from the impact, startling the trainers.

"Emboar huh," Ash mused, his curiosity obvious as he pulled out his Pokédex and opened the cover of it.

"No data available," Dexette said as it analyzed the Pokémon, causing everyone to look at the device.

"No data…?" Ash mumbled, causing Alex to chuckle to himself.

"I could have saved you a lot of time and told you that wouldn't work." Alex said. "For some reason, very little data on Emboar exists in the regions. But he is recognized as a legitimate Pokémon by the league."

"So what region is he from?" May asked.

"Hmmm…" Alex grunted, putting a finger to his chin. "Honestly I don't know. I keep hoping someone will tell me."

"Wait, you don't even know?" Drew said, starting to get curious.

"I know, weird huh." Alex said nonchalantly. "All I remember is that Emboar's been with me since I was a kid, back when it used to be a Tepig, its first form."

"Haven't you done any research on it?" Brock asked as he placed bowls of Pokémon food in front of Alex's Pokémon, who all began to eat as they received their food.

"Yeah I have, but no one seems to know anything. I just have to keep hoping someone will know where he's from because I'm getting tired of all the questions people ask." Alex blinked for a second before looking up at his new friends who all had annoyed looks on their faces, Alex pulling himself together from the blunder he made. "Not that I mind answering _your_ questions, you guys are cool. It's just from other trainers every time they battle him. It just gets kinda old after a while, ya know what I mean?" The group still eyed him with a hint of annoyance while Ash turned towards his friends.

"Sorry guys," Ash apologized to his friends. "Alex has always been like that. He's a good guy; he just doesn't watch what comes out of his mouth sometimes."

"Yeah sorry," Alex said as he rubbed the back of his head as he sat back down in his chair, his Pokémon all starting to eat now. As Alex began to eat his sandwich again, he caught eye of one of Ash's Pokémon staring at him. It was the Land-Shark Pokémon, looking at him with a vacant stare. Alex stared back for a few seconds before finally saying something to it. "Hey little guy, can I help you with something?" As Alex finished his sentence, the Pokémon leaped into the air with its mouth open, attempting to take a bite out of Alex. However, Alex quickly ducked in his chair, dodging the Pokémon who was flying towards Ash's head, who was unaware of the situation. It was only until Ash felt his Pokémon's teeth sink into his skull did he get the idea. Ash rose from his seat and ran in pain as he tried to pull his Pokémon off of his head.

"Ow ow owww! Gible let go!" Ash said as Gible slightly let his grip go. As they watched the young man flail around in pain, the group laughed with him while Drew looked at him with a sense of pity.

_I still can't believe that this guy is supposed to be May's mentor_, Drew thought. _This guy's just-_

"Pathetic," a voice said, catching everyone's attention. They turned around to see a young man standing away from the table, joined by a yellow Pokémon with large arms and black lightning-bolt patterns on its fur. The young man wore a dark blue jacket with black sleeves and a greenish-blue undershirt with gray jeans and blue sneakers. The young man had long violet hair that reached to his shoulders. His black eyes glared at the group as his Pokémon followed suit. The Pokémon had two round antennae on its head that at first glance looked as though they were charged with electricity, same as Electivire.

"Paul," Ash said as he pulled his Gible off his head and placing him on the ground. "What are you doing here?"

"I was training around here before something scared off our opponent," Paul said roughly, looking at the chimp Pokémon in the background. The Pokémon looked at Paul with a hint of nervousness while his friends all rushed beside him, ready to defend their brother. Paul gave a slight grin before looking back at Ash with the same emotionless look as before. "What about you? I don't suppose you've mastered Blaze yet have you?"

"I told you Paul, I don't mess around with that!" Ash said as he started to glare at Paul, still not responding to him.

"Dawn who is that?" May whispered to Dawn, Drew and Alex listening in.

"That's Paul, a Pokémon trainer who's been competing against Ash since he first came to Sinnoh," Dawn replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "He trains all of his Pokémon to the brink of exhaustion and if he doesn't think they're strong, he just lets them go."

"He doesn't sound like any trainer I've ever heard of." May said as her tone turned into anger.

"He's strong though. He's even managed to beat Ash several times. Even in a full battle."

"He beat Ash?" May asked shocked, almost not believing that her friend could lose to such a jerk. This last comment caught Alex's attention as he turned towards the two trainers, the gears in his head starting to turn.

"So you're still holding on to that notion that you can win without that power…" Paul said. "I see you haven't gotten any smarter since the last time we met."

"Look Paul, we both agreed that we would get stronger in our own way." Ash defended himself. "Infernape's getting stronger every day. After everything that's happened, you have no right to say he isn't."

"And you want to become a Pokémon Master," Paul said condescendingly as he lowered his eyes, causing Ash's anger to flare. "You'll never get stronger if you keep refusing to let that power go."

"I will become a Pokémon Master!" Ash yelled at the young man. "And me and my Pokémon will do it our way. We're a team! We trust each other!"

"You're pathetic." Paul finally said, finally bringing Ash to his boiling point. At this point, May had seen enough for herself, unable to take any more of what that jerk was saying.

"Who are you calling pathetic?!" May yelled at Paul as she stood up from her chair, causing everyone to look at her. "Ash loves his Pokémon, he treats them like his own family. I'm sure he treats them a lot better than you treat yours. He battles with his Pokémon to be closer to them, and they become stronger for him. You have no right to talk to him like he's wrong for caring about them. If you ask me, you're the one who's pathetic!" May began to pant as she poured out all of her anger on the young man she had never even met, her friends looking at her with amazement.

"May…" Ash said as he looked at her, still not believing that she stood up for him. Paul looked at the girl with the same look in his eyes, seemingly not fazed by the young girl's speech, not recognizing her and at the same time not caring.

"Hmph," Paul grunted as he turned away from the group and started to walk away with his Pokémon, causing Ash to snap out of his trance.

"Hey Paul, let's have a battle right now." Ash called out to his rival.

"No thanks," Paul said not turning around. "You're not worth the effort." Ash began to fume at the young man's words until he heard another voice speak to Paul.

"So you make your little speech about how weak the kid is and then just walk away, huh?" Alex said nonchalantly. "Guys like you are all the same: all talk and no action. I swear, guys like you are all just little punks." The last comment caused Paul to stop in his tracks, the young man turning towards Alex, Alex wearing a large grin on his face.

_He may be an ass, but he's a predictable one_, Alex thought to himself.

"Tell you what Paul," Alex said as he got up from his chair. "How bout you battle me? I could use a good warm up." With that last comment, everyone looked at Alex, disbelief in their eyes, and anger in Paul's. Things were about to get interesting.

End of Chapter 3

What the?! Alex is challenging Paul to a battle? And did Paul just make a new enemy in May? What will the result be? You'll have to tune in next time. Until then.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello fellow anime lovers, BlazeTrigger here. Well, I can't think of anything I need to inform you about at the moment, just to remind to Read, Rave and Review, and to let me know if there's any big problems. Well Alex has managed to make Paul mad, like that's a surprise, and now their battle will begin. And with that, let's get things moving shall we? Enjoy.

Author's Note: I do not own Pokémon at all. No copyright infringement intended whatsoever.

Rival's Revenge

Chapter 4: The Supposed Warm Up? Alex vs. Paul

"A warm up?" Paul asked, skeptical about what he just heard. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," Alex said with a small smirk on his face. "My team and I need to conserve energy for the Lucrezia Town Tournament, so I can't go completely serious on you. I'm thinking a three-on-three battle will be good enough." Paul had a hard time believing what he was hearing. He had never met the young man before, but as he talked, he increasingly felt the need to shut him up, and there was only one way to do that.

"Fine then, I accept." Paul said calmly as he glared at Alex, his opponent walking towards the clearing where Paul was.

"Alex," Ash said as Alex walked towards Paul, a serious look on his face. "You don't have to do this. He's my rival; I can take whatever he says." Alex simply turned to him with a slight grin on his face.

"Ah come on man," Alex answered with a sigh, catching Ash off guard. "What kind of guy do you think I am, fighting your rival _for_ you? I'm not that much of an ass. I'm battling this guy for my own reasons, not for you. Got it?" Alex flashed a bigger grin, somehow putting his friend at ease. Ash flashed a small smile himself and turned back towards the others as Alex walked towards Paul.

"Your friend's got a bigger mouth than I thought," Drew told Ash as they watched the scene, Ash turning to him.

"Well, I'm sure he knows what he's doing… I hope," Ash said skeptically, causing Dawn to get up from out of her seat and run towards Alex, pulling him close.

"Alex, do you know what you're getting yourself into?" Dawn whispered in his ear. "Paul's no pushover by any means. He even managed to beat Ash in a full battle."

"Then in that case, I better keep my guard up." Alex whispered back, starting to get excited. Dawn looked at him with a combination of worry and astonishment. "Hey, I'm no pushover either ya know. I got this, watch." Alex then walked away from the blunette and took his place on the field, staring down his opponent.

"Hey Lucario," Alex called his friend, catching his attention. "I need you over here." The Aura Pokémon got up from his place and walked to his trainer's side, causing Paul to look at the Pokémon.

"Is that your first choice?" Paul asked, looking at the Aura Pokémon.

"Maybe, maybe not," Alex smirked. "But Lucario's always at my side when I battle, and this is no exception. So deal with it." Paul's eyes narrowed slightly as Alex spoke, Lucario finally made his way to his trainer.

"I'll be referee," Brock said as he started to get up.

"There's no need," Paul simply said, causing Brock to hesitate.

"I agree," Alex said, surprising his friends. "Don't worry about it Brock. We'll be fine without a ref."

"All right guys, I take care of the coin toss with my Pokétch," Dawn said as she walked towards both of them and pressed the red button on her pink watch, the screen showing what looked like a coin with a Magikarp symbol on it. "Ok call it out."

"I'll take tails," Alex called to the girl.

"Then heads," Paul answered. Dawn touched the screen of her Pokétch and the coin on the screen flipped. It came down and hit the screen several times before finally sitting still, revealing the Magikarp symbol.

"It's heads," Dawn called out to the trainers who both didn't react to the announcement. "Paul picks his Pokémon first." Paul pulled off a Poké Ball from his belt and the device began to enlarge as he stood ready.

"Weavile, stand by for battle," Paul said as he threw the device, revealing a small, jet black Pokémon with sharp claws. The Pokémon had what looked like a scarf of red scales with a large crown of the same red scales with a dark red tail, a small gold jewel adorning its forehead.

"A Weavile huh," Alex said with his same grin. "Swampert, let's do some damage, shall we?"

"Swammm…" the Water-Type groaned at Weavile as he began to walk towards the battlefield, the same manic look in his eye present as he stared at his opponent, Weavile looking up at the Water-Type with confidence in its blood-red eyes. Dawn walked back to the table and joined her friends, who, along with their Pokémon, were all watching the battle with anticipation.

"I'll let you go first," Alex called out to Paul.

"Alright," Paul replied back. "Weavile, Ice Beam." Weavile began to charge energy into a ball of light blue light and aimed towards Swampert.

"Wea-VILE!" Weavile shouted as he released the charge in the form of an arcing beam of ice charging straight at the Water-type.

"Block it," Alex simply said. Swampert raised its hands out in front of the beam and allowed the attack to connect, the energy cackling in Swampert's hands. His hands began to freeze slightly, but Swampert barely twitched at the attack or the cold. "Alright, it's our turn." Alex smirked. "Swampert, use Waterfall." Swampert began to charge towards Weavile, the Ice-type holding its ground as Swampert's eyes began to glow, an aura of water surrounding it.

"Dodge it and use Metal Claw," Paul said. As Swampert came down, Weavile began to crouch down, waiting for the attack to come. Swampert slammed into the ground as a pillar of water erupted from his body. As the attack came closer to Weavile, the Sharp Claw Pokémon jumped backward to avoid the attack, flying into a backflip before landing back on its feet, its claws beginning to glow white. Weavile sprinted towards Swampert with blinding speed as he spread out his arms and brought them down at him, slashing him over and over as Swampert raised his arms to defend his face.

"Swampert, knock it away with Mud Shot!" Alex shouted. Swampert knocked Weavile away by spreading its arms back out, sending it into the air. Swampert then released a volley of mud bullets from its mouth at high-speed towards Weavile. Weavile, unable to recover from the knockback, took the full force of the attack, knocking him towards the ground before Weavile slid into another back flip, landing once again on its feet, now panting slightly.

_Pretty tenacious little thing_, Alex thought, a grin once again growing on his face. "Now use Waterfall!" Swampert's eyes began to glow again as he charged towards Weavile again.

"Here we go again," Paul said condescendingly. "Weavile, charge right at it." Weavile began to sprint towards the charging Swampert with the same amazing speed as before, causing the trainers to look in shock.

"Why is Weavile charging right for Swampert?" May said with disbelief. "Is he trying to lose?"

"What's he up to?" Ash pondered out loud, knowing that Paul wouldn't do something crazy without a good reason. Weavile sped towards the Water-type as its body was once again surrounded by water. This time, however, Weavile had no room to back away or to the side.

"Now jump!" Paul called out. As Swampert connected to its target, a pillar of water rose from the ground towards the sky, lifting Weavile in the air as it took damage. However, Weavile used the pillar of water to jump over Swampert, flipping in the air facing its opponent from the sky with a smirk on his face. "Use Blizzard!"

"Weavile!" Weavile shouted as it released a massive gust of cold air and snow from its mouth as the jewel on its head beginning to glow. The attack connected and Swampert with far more force than the Ice Beam it felt, but still was able to get up with little effort, the manic look in Swampert's eye never leaving.

"Come on Paul," Alex called out. "Is that all you got?" Swampert yelled out at Weavile as it raised its arms into the air, still ready to fight. "I'm starting to get kinda bored over here."

"Weavile use Swords Dance," Paul called out to his Pokémon. Weavile began to move its arms and legs in an almost ballet style dance as its claws began to glow a reddish-purple, growing longer as it completed the dance. "Now use Metal Claw. Wrap this up!" Weavile once again rushed towards Swampert as its elongated claws turned white, ready to end this. Weavile raced past Swampert as it sliced it from the side, turning around and slashing it again and again in the same way. Weavile turned around and rushed at Swampert for one last slash before Alex let out a slight chuckle, catching Paul by surprise.

"Grab it," Alex said, catching Swampert's attention. Before the last Metal Claw could connect, Swampert was able to grab one of its claws, stopping it in its track. Weavile struggled in the Mud Fish Pokémon's grip as it raised another Metal Claw at it; the attack once again being caught by Swampert's other hand. Weavile became completely at Swampert's mercy as Paul looked at the scene with narrowed eyes.

"Quick, use Blizzard," Paul called out. As Weavile began to charge up energy, Swampert tightened its grip on the Ice Pokémon, slowing down the energy buildup in its body. Its grip caused Weavile to wince in pain and gave Swampert the few precious seconds it needed.

"Ice Beam," Alex called out to his Pokémon. Swampert began to gather energy into a ball of ice blue energy outside of his mouth, crackling slightly as it was gathered. Swampert then released the energy in the form of a coursing beam of energy, connecting with the Ice-Type. Weavile began to lose feeling in its body as the ice encased him, a cold that he rarely ever felt even by his own attacks. The ice soon cloaked his entire body, the Pokémon now unable to move, much to Paul's surprise.

"What the?!" Paul said with a shocked look on his face.

"Now, Hammer Arm!" Alex yelled out to his Pokémon, starting to enjoy himself now as Swampert let go of the frozen Weavile.

"SWAMMM," Swampert called out as he raised his arms into the air, now glowing pure white as he looked down at his prey. "PERT!" He brought down his arms at the frozen Weavile, crushing the ice around the Pokémon and the Pokémon with it, causing a loud boom. The trainers looked in the crater that Swampert created to see the damage: Weavile knocked unconscious as it lied in the gaping hole in the earth. "Swam," Swampert grunted as he walked towards his trainer.

"Weavile, return." Paul said as he recalled Weavile to its Poké Ball, placing it back on his belt.

"Nice work Swampert," Alex said to his friend as he pulled a Poké Ball out from his sleeve, Swampert still pumped up from the battle. "Now take a good rest." Alex said before recalling Swampert back into his Poké Ball.

"Unbelievable," Dawn said as she saw the damage Swampert caused. "Swampert took out Weavile with one hit."

"Since Weavile's an Ice and Dark-type, a Fighting-type move like Hammer Arm would be extremely effective against it." Brock started to explain. "I'm guessing Alex was waiting for Weavile to get in close enough to trap it with Ice Beam before ending it."

"Wow," Ash said under his breath. "Alex has gotten better. That Swampert's power is unreal."

"Ok next," Alex said with a slight laugh. _That was problematic._ Alex thought._ That Weavile was moving way too fast for my tastes. Dawn was right, this guy's no slouch but…._Alex began to chuckle to himself which caused Paul to raise an eyebrow.

"What's so funny over there?" Paul said only half-curious.

"Oh nothing nothing," Alex replied while waving a hand. "Don't mind me. Let's keep going." Lucario merely shook his head while Paul only looked at him for another second before pulling off another Poké Ball from his belt.

"Honchcrow, stand by for battle." Paul said as he threw the device, revealing a large bird with black feathers with a mass of white feathers reaching down from its chin, resembling a scarf. The Pokémon had black wings with red feathers on the inside of its wings as well as the end of its tail. On the top of the Pokémon's head was a mass of feathers in the shape of a hat.

"Ok then…" Alex said, turning towards one of his team. "Dragonair, let's do some damage, shall we?" Dragonair flew up towards her trainer and to the battlefield and stood on the battlefield. Honchcrow began to spread its wings a little trying to stretch before the Dragon Pokémon readied herself.

"Why did he choose Dragonair?" Dawn asked her friends. "Wouldn't Electivire or Larvitar be a better choice?"

"Not sure," Ash mused. "Maybe he wants to deal with Honchcrow from the air?"

"Pika pi pi kachu," Pikachu said as he scratched his ears with his paw.

"Piplup," Piplup simply said, completely fixated on the battle.

"L-lar v-v-vi, lar vi vi tar," Larvitar tried to explain, still stuttering in front of his new friends.

"Gla glace," Glaceon said to the young Ground-type Pokémon.

"Pi pikachu pi chu pika" Pikachu said to Glaceon.

"Glace?" Glaceon asked her friend, making sure she heard him right. "Glaceon glace gla." She said with a concerned look.

"Lucario, make sure you're keeping an eye on this guy's Pokémon," Alex whispered to the Pokémon beside him. "Try to see if you can memorize any patterns in their behavior as we go, sound good?" Lucario nodded back as Alex turned his attention to the field. "I'll go first this time. Dragonair, use Twister!" Dragonair began gathering energy in her tail and released a vortex at Honchcrow, the vortex whipping the wind around it.

"Honchcrow, in the air." Paul commanded. The Flying-type spread its wings and flapped its way into the sky as avoiding the Twister. Honchcrow flew into the air above Dragonair's head as he eyed his opponent from above. "Use Night Slash!"

"Honchcrow!" Honchcrow cawed as he dove down towards Dragonair as one of his wings began to glow dark purple with crackling energy.

"Dragonair, use Aqua Tail!" Dragonair began to spin her tail in a circular motion while water formed around it in a spiral. As Honchcrow grew closer, she swung her tail at the Flying-Type's wing, the two attacks colliding in a stalemate. The two continued to push as their eyes locked, until Honchcrow felt himself pushed back by the Aqua Tail, sent flying back into the sky.

"Honchcrow, use Aerial Ace!" Paul yelled out. Honchcrow used the momentum of the attack to fly into a dive bomb at blinding speed towards Dragonair. Alex and Lucario examined the Pokémon's descent as the human's face turned slightly serious.

"Dragon Pulse," Alex called. Dragonair began to charge a large ball of light green energy from her mouth before releasing it at her opponent, the attack careening right at it.

"Dodge it," Paul ordered. Honchcrow flew below the attack as he skimmed the grass before landing a hit on Dragonair, this time unable to defend itself from the attack. Before Dragonair could recover to launch another attack, Honchcrow was back in the air scanning the battlefield from above.

"Dragonair, are you okay?" Alex asked his friend with concern it his voice. Dragonair cooed slightly as she readied herself again with difficulty, knowing the attack scored a critical hit. "Alright then, fly up and use Outrage." Dragonair began to fly towards Honchcrow as her brown eyes began to glow red, her body coursing with energy. She neared the Big Boss Pokémon whose eyes began to widen at the charging dragon, waiting for a command.

"Honchcrow use Dark Pulse," Paul commanded. Honchcrow began to gather energy in between its wings and fired the dark wave at Dragonair, pushing her back. As she felt the energy hit her, she continued to push through the attack, taking damage as she came close enough to Honchcrow to ram him with her head, turning around to slam him with her long tail, knocking him towards the ground. Honchcrow struggled through the pain before being able to spread his wings enough to get back into the air and avoid the collision, much to Alex's dismay.

"Almost had him," Alex said under his breath. He noticed that Dragonair began to act weird, moving all across the air hitting nothing. "Oh great."

"Wait, what's happening to Dragonair?" May asked the group.

"Outrage is a Dragon Type move that can do a huge amount of damage to its target," Brock explained to the others. "But when it stops, the user becomes confused. I'm guessing Alex was trying to repeat the same tactic with Swampert."

"Use Sky Attack!" Paul ordered his Pokémon. Honchcrow spread his wings and dove towards Dragonair as a blinding white aura cloaked him.

"Dragonair, use Aqua Tail." Alex ordered, as Dragonair still was still dazed from her earlier attack. "Come on Dragonair, you can do it." Alex called out to his friend. A small part of her must have heard him speak as she began to gather water around her tail again, causing Alex to grin. She swung her tail at the charging Pokémon and the two attacks collided once again. Honchcrow began to push further at the Aqua Tail as Dragonair became weaker and weaker, until Honchcrow finally pushed through and scored a hit on Dragonair. Alex could see that Dragonair was unconscious as she fell, pulling out the Poké Ball from his sleeve.

"Dragonair, return." Alex said as he recalled his Pokémon before she hit the ground, glad that he caught her in time. "You were amazing as always. Get some rest." Alex placed the Poké Ball back in his sleeve before looking back at Paul with a grin back on his face.

"I guess Honchcrow was just stronger." May said sadly, looking at the battlefield.

"Remember May, part of Honchcrow's strength was from its ability Super Luck." Brock replied. "It increases the rate of critical hits in a Pokémon's moves. And since most of Paul's moves already had such a high chance to score a critical hit, it'd be hard for anyone to take that many hits from it."

"Just goes to show how well he's trained his Pokémon." Ash begrudgingly said, despite not liking Paul's methods. "Dragonair just couldn't take all that damage."

"Honchcrow, return." Paul said calmly as he recalled Honchcrow and placing the Poké Ball back on his belt. He looked back at Alex who was still grinning at him.

"Well, I guess it's one on one now." Alex called out to his opponent. Paul stood there as he looked at his opponent, somewhat lost in thought.

_This guy's not normal_. Paul began to think to himself. _He keeps setting his Pokémon up to get hit and then tries to line up a shot. His Pokémon have to be as solid as a rock to defend against all those attacks…_

"Hey, what's up? Losing your nerve or something?" Paul shook his head as he snapped back to reality. He looked to the Pokémon beside him with the same emotionless look on his face.

"Electabuzz, go." Paul said to the Pokémon beside him. Electabuzz made his way towards the battlefield with a scowl on his face.

"Electivire," Alex called his Pokémon. "Let's do some damage." The large Electric-Type began to walk towards the field with a look of confidence on his face. Electabuzz's scowl turned into a smirk as he saw his evolution, the larger Pokémon giving a hearty laugh as he got into a ready stance.

"Why's he choosing an Electric-Type for this?" Ash asked. "Electric-Type moves won't do much damage on the two of them. Wouldn't Larvitar be a better match up for this?"

"I'm not sure," May answered. "Let's just hope he has a plan." The group looked at the young man, whose grin never left his face, starting to wonder if he was really in control of the battle or just looking the part.

"You can go first this time." Paul said as he crossed his arms.

"Fine by me. Electivire, use Thunder!" Alex commanded. Electivire began to store up electricity in the round antennae on his head, now crackling audibly.

"Electi-VIRE!" Electivire yelled as he released the massive charge at his opponent. As the attack connected, Electabuzz felt himself actually being hurt by the attack, unable to understand how an Electric-Type Pokémon can be hurt by its own move. However, it wasn't enough to injure him severely as he readied himself for his trainer's order.

"Use Brick Break!" Paul ordered. Electabuzz charged towards his opponent as he raised his arm which was crackling with electricity.

"Use Brick Break as well," Alex called out. Electivire brought his arm out to the side as it crackled with electricity and met Electabuzz's attack, Electivire's attack pushing back Electabuzz's slightly.

"There's a reason I let you go first this time." Paul said with a slight smirk.

"Really?" Alex said with a half-serious tone in his voice. "Please do tell."

"I noticed that your Pokémon's attacks are stronger than normal." Paul started to explain. "So we used your Thunder attack to power up Electabuzz's Brick Break."

"Which explains why he's holding his ground so well." Alex finished. "Not too bad. Unfortunately, it's not good enough. Electivire, Thunderpunch!" Electivire began to charge his free hand with electricity and ball it into a fist, the fist now coursing with energy.

"Electabuzz, break off the attack and use Thunder." Electivire swung his electrically-charged fist at his younger evolution, but Electabuzz backpedaled slightly as he began to charge up energy in his antennae.

"Elelelelel-ELECTA!" Electabuzz fired his own Thunder at his opponent. However, Alex merely smirked as he let the attack come closer and closer to his Pokémon.

"Block it." Alex said. Electivire raised his hands at the incoming Electric attack and allowed the attack to connect, resulting in a cloud of smoke forming from the bang. Paul tried to look through the smoke to see the damage, but he was shocked to see that Electivire was okay, better than ok. Electivire began to spin his arms as the electricity filled his body and dispersed through his two long black tails, both the Pokémon and his trainer beginning to chuckle a little.

"Wait, it can't be," Paul started to say. "Isn't that…"

"Motor Drive." Alex simply said with a grin.

"So that's why he chose Electivire!" Brock exclaimed.

"Motor Drive?" May asked the breeder. "What's that?"

"Motor Drive is a special ability that allows Electivire to absorb all Electric attacks and nullify the damage. It can even increase Electivire's speed when it's hit by them. If a strong Pokémon like Electivire can become faster…"

"Then Paul's in trouble." Ash finished. "Electabuzz can't use any of its Electric attacks on Electivire now. Larvitar just wouldn't be able to take Electivire's Brick Break attack."

"Not too bad," Drew simply said, finally adding his two cents about the battle, having been watching the event with a mild interest.

"Now it's time for some fun!" Alex said with excitement in his voice. "Electivire, Thunderpunch one more time." Electivire now rushed towards Electabuzz at blinding speed while charging his arm with electricity again, causing Electabuzz to tense up in anticipation.

"Protect," Paul ordered. Electabuzz raised its arms in defense as a green barrier formed around him. Electivire slammed his fist into the barrier, but was stopped in its tracks. However, Electivire began to charge the attack into the barrier, causing it to crack a little, much to everyone's surprise. Electivire gave one last push before the Thunderpunch broke through the barrier, striking Electabuzz with the attack, sending him flying towards his trainer's feet. Electabuzz groaned before getting back up, obviously reeling from the attack.

"Electabuzz Brick Break now!" Paul ordered his Pokémon.

"Electivire use Ice Punch!" Alex called out. The two Electric-Types charged towards each other, Electabuzz raising his arm up again while Electivire began to gather ice blue energy in his fist. The two came closer and closer before winding up to deliver the blow. The attacks connected as both sides didn't give an inch, the energy of the attacks crackling around them. The group and the trainers were captivated as the struggle commenced, Alex looking at the battle with a slightly excited smile while Paul kept the same emotionless look on his face, his hands down at his side now. Both Pokémon gave one final push before an explosion took place where the two were standing. Several crackles of energy could be heard and the smoke began to clear.

End of Chapter 5

You didn't think I'd wrap up the whole battle that easily did you? I have to make things somewhat interesting. What will the outcome of the battle be? And what is the secret of Alex's strength? You'll have to tune in next time to find out. Until then...


	5. Chapter 5

Hello fellow anime fans. BlazeTrigger here. Well here's Chapter 5 of Rival's Revenge. This one took a little more time to get right, so I hope everything is strong enough for your reading pleasure. Just to let everyone know, I'm writing in the universe of the anime, that includes the rules of the anime as well, not the game. Each Pokémon will only have four moves for simplicity's sake, but there will still be rule bending in terms of the game. If something doesn't make sense, review and I'll look into it. Well, there's no reminder or anything important to mention right now, just to please review and let me know if there's any major problems. As always, please enjoy. Now without further ado, let's get to it, shall we?

Author's Note: I do not own Pokémon at all. No copyright infringement intended whatsoever.

Rival's Revenge

Chapter 5: The End of the Battle! The Road to Lucrezia Town

The trainers and Pokémon stood up in anticipation as the smoke cleared, both Alex and Paul looking towards the battlefield to see which one was left standing. The dust finally settled to reveal a small crater revealing Electivire still standing there panting as electricity crackled around him, while Electabuzz stood encased in a block of ice, seemingly unconscious. Alex let out a laugh while Paul's eyes closed as he pulled out the Poké Ball.

"Electabuzz, return." Paul said emotionless, recalling his frozen Pokémon. The defeated trainer saw Electivire walk towards his trainer, who had begun to let out a slight chuckle while his Lucario wore a grin on his face.

"Nice work brother," Alex said to his friend, reaching out a fist to him. "You really gave one hell of a show." Electivire let out a hearty laugh as he bumped his fist with his trainer's, finally starting to catch his breath. Alex pulled out a Poké Ball from his sleeve and pointed it at Electivire. "You take a good rest now." Alex recalled his Pokémon and put the device back in his sleeve. The rest of the group stood speechless as they tried to find the words for what happened.

"Alex won," Dawn simply said, staring at the trainer.

"He beat Paul…" Ash said to himself, still not believing what happened.

"Pika…" Pikachu added, Larvitar letting out an awkward smile before giving an excited cry.

"Larvitar! Larvitar!" Larvitar cheered for his trainer. Pikachu and the rest of the small group of Pokémon ran to their trainer's sides as they started to get up from their seats. Ash could see Paul beginning to walk off with his hands shoved into his jacket pockets. Ash and May both had things to say to him, but before they could get the words out, someone interrupted them.

"Hey Paul," Alex called out to the young man, causing him to stop in his tracks. "That was a good battle. You've definitely got some skill." Paul said nothing as he continued to walk towards the dirt road leading away from the group. "Hey, if you want to battle again, I'll be in Lucrezia Town competing in the tournament there. I'll be waiting for our rematch."

"Fine," Paul simply let out before walking out of sight.

"Just be sure to find a partner!" Alex yelled out after Paul disappeared from sight. The group walked towards their friend who now let out a large sigh, gaining a slightly annoyed look from Lucario.

"Alex that was…" Dawn started as she looked at the trainer.

"Impressive, incredible, utterly amazing?" Alex asked rhetorically, obviously beaming from his accomplishment. Lucario merely gave a grunt at the young trainer, immediately bringing him out of his good mood and into a much fouler one.

"What the hell do you mean 'reckless'?" Alex shouted at Lucario, Lucario merely shrugged his shoulders again with his trademark grin. "I'll admit I had a few hairy moments, but I had everything under control." Alex defended himself before a look of worry crossed his face. "Oh yeah, hang on a sec." Alex pulled out a Poké Ball from his sleeve and looked at the device for a couple of seconds before looking at his friends.

"What's wrong Alex?" Ash asked his friend with concern.

"Hey guys, I hate to ask this, but Lucrezia Town's just a few miles away." Alex started to ask, slightly embarrassed. "I know you guys weren't planning to stop there but I need to get Dragonair and the others to a Pokémon Center. If it's alright with you…" Alex began to ask, but before he could, Ash gave a big smile towards his friend.

"Sure I don't mind one bit." Ash told his friend. "I was actually interested in entering the tournament there anyway." Ash then turned to Pikachu as he climbed up to his trainer's shoulder. "What do you think buddy?"

"Pi pikachu." Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Some things never change do they?" May asked out loud; now glad to see the same Ash she knew starting to come back.

"You got that right." Brock chuckled as he walked up to the rest of the group.

"Don't worry about it Alex, we'll all go with you." Dawn said as she scooped up Piplup in her arms, Piplup nodding in agreement.

"I might as well," Drew said coolly. "I've got nothing better to do." Alex looked at the group for a couple of seconds before looking away again, trying to look cool in front of his new friends.

"Thanks guys," Alex simply said with a small smile on his face.

"First things first," Brock interrupted. "We need to pack everything up before heading out. I don't want to leave everything behind."

The group began to clean up their lunch area as all of the trainers and Pokémon began cleaning the table and dishes. While folding up the table used, Alex took a look over to one of his Pokémon. It was his Larvitar, helping Pikachu and Piplup gather foodstuffs and handing them to Brock. Larvitar began to laugh as Pikachu told a story to him about his adventures with Piplup, much at the Penguin Pokémon's expense. Alex was glad that Larvitar was making friends since Larvitar always had difficulty doing so in the past. But what struck him as odd was that every so often, Larvitar would steal a look at the small rabbit Pokémon who was nuzzling next to Pikachu, as a small blush crept up on the young Rock-Type's face. Glaceon would stare at the rabbit Pokémon who by now began to notice her attitude towards her. All the while, Pikachu remained oblivious at the two females while Piplup merely patted him on the back, much to his confusion. Alex couldn't help but chuckle at his young charge's face as he looked at the oblivious Pokémon, which had caught Dawn's attention.

"What's so funny Alex," Dawn asked curiously, carrying a set of plates.

"It seems my little Larvitar has a crush." Alex chuckled as he pointed towards the group of Pokémon. Dawn looked to where Alex was pointing and realized what he meant. She saw Larvitar looking at her Pokémon with a nervous look, his cheeks bright red as he helped out his new friends.

"On Buneary huh?" Dawn chuckled a little. "That's so cute. Sorry Alex, but Buneary already has her eye on someone else."

"Pikachu, right?" Alex asked, already knowing the answer. "I kinda figured with the way she's been acting."

"And of course Pikachu doesn't even have a clue." Dawn shook her head. "Like trainer, like Pokémon I guess."

"Hey Dawn can I ask you something?" Alex asked her as Dawn turned towards him. "Is Ash still awkward around girls by any chance? Is he still…"

"Clueless?" Dawn asked while Alex nodded. "Unfortunately… Pokémon are still number one with him." She said while she sweatdropped.

"Hah, he really hasn't changed at all." Alex chuckled to himself. "Still the same little kid I remember."

"You got that right." Dawn replied. "Why so curious?"

"I was just wondering since he's traveling with two girls his age," Alex began. "I just assumed he was dating one of you." The last comment caught Dawn off guard as a large blush forced her way on to her face, almost dropping the plates she was carrying.

"W-w-what! A-ash dating one of us?! Th-that's just…" Dawn stammered, trying to get the words out. "There's no way!"

"Easy Dawn, relax. I'm just making an observation." Alex said trying to calm the girl down, a slight grin growing on his face. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?"

"No reason…" Dawn lied. "I just didn't think you'd ask that, that's all." They both knew that she wasn't being honest and Dawn was hoping he would drop the subject. Of course, Alex wasn't going to let her out of it so easily as an evil look appeared in his eye.

"Dawn, you don't have a little thing for Ash, do ya?" Alex asked, his grin growing a mile long.

"Well…" Dawn started, trying to explain as her blush started to fade a little. "I kinda did, but… I think there's already someone else." The answer surprised him, not believing that she would be so straightforward, but also disappointed that his fun ended so soon.

"What do you mean?" Alex wondered, now curious to what she said.

"Hey!" Ash called out to the two. "What are you guys doing over there? Come on, we need to finish up so we can go."

"Coming!" Dawn called over to Ash before looking back at Alex. "I don't know for sure, but I think there might be a little more to their relationship than just being good friends." Alex looked over at the group and saw Ash engaging with May in a conversation but was unable to hear them clearly. However, both had huge smiles on their faces as they began to laugh. He knew that whatever they were talking about, they were genuinely enjoying it.

"You mean him and May?" Alex said back to her, causing Dawn to nod slightly. "I guess I'm not the only one who saw the Kid blush like that huh?"

"I kinda suspected it for a while but he's always been so clueless about girls that it just seems so unlikely, ya know?" Dawn saw Piplup walking towards her and handed the small Pokémon the plates she was carrying, freeing her hands as her Pokémon started to make his way towards Brock. "And with what May said back at the harbor, it got me thinking a little."

"The harbor?" Alex asked. "What happened there?"

"She said that there was another reason besides cheering Ash on, but she didn't say what it was." Dawn explained. "From what it sounded like, it must have been serious."

"You really think that those two…"

"It's possible, but Ash's denseness towards girls is something to think about. It may scare her off if he's not careful."

"I know what you mean." Alex simply said. "Does he even have a shot? The Kid's not exactly 'Mr. Smooth' if you catch my drift."

"Well those two are pretty close," Dawn placed a finger on her chin. "And she's always looked up to him as a role model. It's not that crazy when you think about it." Her face began to grow a knowing grin as Alex began to look both nervous and excited.

"Dawn, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Alex asked with a slight chuckle, almost not wanting to find out the answer.

"I think," Dawn stuck her tongue out at the joke she made, causing Alex to give a slight laugh. She then slyly grinned as she looked at the two. "Maybe I am. You're not gonna try to stop me are you?"

"I haven't decided yet," Alex replied with his own grin. "It all depends on what you're planning on doing."

"GUYS!" Brock called back to the two who now both had an embarrassed look on their face. Dawn started to walk towards Brock before turning her head to Alex one last time.

"I'll tell you later." She whispered before making her way to the breeder. Alex looked at the group as Lucario made his way to his side, an idea beginning to form in the young man's mind. Lucario gave him a simple grunt before the trainer turned his attention towards him.

"I know Lucario," Alex with a slight grin. "I shouldn't get involved but…" Lucario let out another grunt as his eyes narrowed this time, not out of anger but rather expectance. "Hey come on, what's life without a little fun to liven things up?" Lucario shook his head as he let out a groan. "Oh come on don't be like that. If anything happens, I'll have you to bail me out." Lucario looked up at him with a grin before starting to head towards two of the Pokémon, leaving Alex to finish folding up the table. He carried it back to the group who were now beginning to recall all of their Pokémon two by two. Brock and Drew had finished returning all of their Pokémon back into their Poké Balls while Ash had returned all of his except for Pikachu, who had climbed back up on to his shoulder, causing Alex to look at them.

"There a reason you're not returning Pikachu Kid?" Alex asked his friend.

"Pikachu hates goin' in his Poké Ball." Ash told him before turning to Pikachu. "It's just a lot more fun for him to ride on my shoulder, right buddy?"

"Pika Pika." Pikachu replied with a smile on his face.

"It's the same for Piplup," Dawn said as she finished returning the last of her Pokémon except for her starter, scooping the Penguin Pokémon in her arms.

"Piplup." Piplup simply replied.

"Isn't that why you keep Lucario out of his Poké Ball?" May asked.

"I keep him out for training purposes," Alex merely said.

"Exactly what kind of training?" Drew asked half interested.

"Oh this and that mostly." Alex tip-toed around the question, gaining a suspicious look from Drew. "And he doesn't like his Poké Ball most of the time." Alex replied as he looked at Lucario, the Pokémon turning his head away as the trainer let out a smirk. "Besides, it's less boring to travel when you have someone to talk to… even if they are a wise ass half the time." Lucario looked back at him with the same smirk he always wore, letting out a slight groan. Alex let out his own grunt at Lucario's little gesture and pulled off the Poké Ball from his necklace and pointed in at his starter. "Emboar, return." Alex said as he recalled the Fire-Type. He placed the device back on his necklace and pulled out one last Poké Ball. But before he could do anything else, he heard a small voice call him from below.

"Larvi lar larvi larvitar." Larvitar said as he tugged on Alex's pant leg.

"What's up Larvitar?" Alex asked the little one. "You don't want to go back in you Poké Ball or something?"

"Larvi larvi!" Larvitar shook his head and then pointed towards Pikachu and Piplup. "Lar larvitar lar larvi vi lar Larvitar vi Larvi lar larvi." Alex turned towards Lucario for a second who merely gave him a stare and then turned his attention to Pikachu and Piplup who both had a smile on their faces. Instead of saying anything, he gave his young charge a knowing smile.

"I gotcha." Alex simply said as he returned the device back into his sleeve. "Alright, you can hang outside for a while, sound good?" Larvitar's face lit up like a candle as he gave Alex's leg a big hug.

"Larvitar larvitar!" Larvitar thanked him as he walked back towards his two new friends. Pikachu crawled down Ash's arm to meet the Rock-Type while Piplup squirmed out of Dawn's arms and dropped on to the ground, running back towards the two. The group let out a little laugh at the cute scene as both Ash and Dawn looked surprised at their Pokémon, but was quickly replaced with a smile. May started to recall all of her Pokémon one by one as well, leaving only Glaceon left, who had walked back up to Pikachu and Piplup, now joining the three Pokémon in their conversation. May couldn't help but smile as she saw her Pokémon insert herself as part of the little clique.

"I guess those four are becoming their own little group now huh?" May turned to Ash and Dawn.

"Yeah." Ash replied as he looked down at his partner. "You're starting to get pretty popular huh buddy."

"Pika pikachu." Pikachu replied to his partner as he rubbed his head.

"Alright guys, what do you say we get moving?" Brock said as he placed the last of the supplies in his bag.

"Right." The group said almost simultaneously.

"Ok Mercer," Drew asked the trainer. "Where is Lucrezia Town? If we're going, let's get to it." Alex didn't say anything to the coordinator, merely turning toward the road and pointing in the right direction. The group had finally made their way on to the dirt road and began to walk towards where Alex had pointed out. The group walked together with Ash, May, and Dawn gathered together talking and Brock and Drew slightly behind them. Pikachu and the group of Pokémon walked ahead of their trainers, with Pikachu and Larvitar now laughing out loud from what could be understood as a joke from Piplup as Glaceon let out a small giggle. Alex walked ahead of the group with his left hand shoved into his jacket pocket and his right hanging freely as Lucario walked beside him quietly. Alex kept his eyes on the road but everyone once in a while looked back at the group and saw Ash telling the group a story about his latest capture, the words Dawn said still swimming in his head.

"And Gible actually ate Barry's bike right behind his back. He was freaking out so bad I though he was gonna have a heart attack." Ash laughed as he told the story.

"Really?" May laughed as she listened, a tear starting to roll down her face from laughing so hard. "You always do manage to catch the most interesting Pokémon."

"Yeah that's putting it mildly." Dawn added her two cents. "His Gible will eat anything that it can get its mouth on. Even rocks."

"And unfortunately my head." Ash chuckled slightly while rubbing where Gible bit him.

"Does it still hurt?" May said with a touch of concern in her voice.

"Nah, I'm fine." Ash told her with his signature smile which managed to bring back her own. Seeing that smile always made her feel better somehow. "That's just Gible's way of saying 'hi' I guess."

"Here let me look," May said as she reached out toward Ash and touched where he was bitten.

"Hey what- Oww!" Ash flinched slightly at her touch as she felt the boy's head

"You really should be more careful Ash!" May scolded the boy.

"Yes mom." Ash said sarcastically, causing May to pout mockingly before a slight smile grew on her face. Once again, Drew looked at the two with suspicion and this time with a look of contempt directed at Ash, who was too absorbed in his conversation with May to notice.

_What am I even doing here?_ Drew thought. _I barely even know this guy and now I'm tagging along with him to a tournament. The only reason I came was…_ Drew looked at May, who was laughing with Ash at the story he told. He felt a twinge of anger as his fists clenched, trying to figure out what was so special about the trainer; Ketchum of all people, who was hogging her attention. He shook the thought out of his head before continuing on. _It doesn't matter, let him talk awhile. In a couple of days, I'll have a lot less to worry about._

"Hey Drew," Brock said, snapping the young man out of his trance. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Drew simply said as he turned his attention towards the road and began walking closer to May, leaving Brock standing on his own

"Alright," Brock said, not convinced but not thinking much of it. Meanwhile, Alex looked at the two's little scene while thinking about the conversation he shared with Dawn.

_She does have a point I will admit_, Alex thought to himself. _It does seem like those two like each other. But Ash would never see it for himself unless he had a little…help._ Alex continued to look at the two for a second until he turned back towards the road, becoming lost in thought as a small grin appeared on his face as Lucario looked at him with his own annoyed worry over the boy. Ash saw his friend out of the corner of his eye and looked towards the road to see his friend thinking about something. He turned to his friends and flashed a quick smile.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back." Ash smiled before walking away from the group and toward Alex, passing Pikachu and the other Pokémon. Pikachu had looked over to Ash, stopping in the middle of his sentence. He turned to his friends as he continued walking.

"Pika pi pika pikachu." Pikachu excused himself as he sprinted towards his trainer. Pikachu ran up to Ash and worked his way up to his usual perch as Ash finally reached Alex, who was still lost in thought.

"Hey Alex," Ash called out to his friend as he caught up to him. Alex looked towards his friend with a surprised look, finally snapping out of his trance.

"What's up Kid?" Alex asked.

"Whatcha doin' all alone?" Ash asked his friend with his same goofy smile. Alex merely turned towards the road with a grin.

"Just thinkin' about a few things." Alex replied. "Nothing important."

"Like what?" Ash asked.

"What kind of opponents will be in Lucrezia Town. Like I said, nothing all that important."

"Well why don't you join us?" Ash asked his friend. "There's plenty of room over here."

"I think I'll pass." Alex smirked. "I'm kinda enjoying the quiet." The two began to walk in silence again as Alex looked back at Ash a couple of times, trying to figure out what to say as he thought about the situation. "I've been meaning to tell you Kid, you've got some interesting friends. I still can't believe that these guys have put up with you for so long." Alex said jokingly.

"Hey they're my friends." Ash defended them. "I've known them ever since I started my journey. They're important to me."

"Easy man, I'm giving them a compliment." Alex chuckled, earning a slightly annoyed look from Ash. "I'm just thinking that you've been traveling with two pretty girls and I have to say I'm kinda impressed. Most guys would kill to be in your position."

"What do you mean?" Ash said dumbly. "They're just May and Dawn. I don't see why people would be jealous."

"Come on Ash, just think: you, alone with two pretty girls all to himself. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Ash merely looked at his friend with a confused look on his face, not exactly understanding what he was getting at. Alex sweatdropped at his friend's density, unable to continue from his slight shock. Alex knew that Ash was dense when it came to girls but he didn't know he was _that_ dense. He wanted to say something, try to see if he thought of May the way he thought he did. He was torn between being subtle to get more information from his friend without freaking him out and saying something straightforward just to enjoy the reaction he'd get from Ash. A few seconds later, he made his choice.

"So tell me Kid, you got a crush on anyone?" Alex said bluntly. He chose the reaction.

"Wh-WHAT?!" Ash yelled in shock as a slight blush ran across his face. The group looked over to see the source of the yell, who was scrambling back and forth, trying to wrap his head around what Alex said as Pikachu clutched onto Ash's head, trying not to fall off. At the same time, Alex was feeling rather pleased with himself, slightly enjoying seeing Ash freak out. Ash calmed down and leaned his head closer to Alex's. "What did you say?" Ash whispered again hesitantly.

"I said do you have a crush on anyone?" Alex whispered again, this time more subtle so that no one would hear them. Ash looked down at the ground for a few seconds trying to think, Pikachu looking at his trainer with confusion as Ash looked back up to Alex.

"I'm… not sure." Ash admitted, Alex looking at him with a raised eyebrow. This wasn't the answer Alex expected but he was going to roll with it.

"I see." Alex simply said with a grin. "You didn't say 'no' so you must have someone in mind that you're not sure of."

"W-w-well…" Ash stammered as he tried to explain. "Maybe but I just don't know yet."

"It wouldn't happen to be a certain bandana-wearing coordinator would it?" Alex smirked, causing Ash to look at him with surprise.

"How did you…?" Ash began to say.

"Guy's intuition, if there is such a thing." Alex lied, not revealing his conversation with Dawn. "I can tell you two are pretty close."

"Yeah, I guess we are." Ash said as a slight blush appeared on his face.

"You two seem to get along pretty well and it always seems like you're happy to see her. One could go as far to say you think of her more than a friend."

"I don't even know if I feel that way about her." Ash replied. "I know I think of her more than just a normal friend but I'm not sure what she thinks of me."

"You could just ask her." Alex said bluntly. "What's the big deal? The worst she could do is say 'no'."

"Well, I don't want to ruin things with her." Ash admitted, starting to gather his thoughts. "I know without a doubt that she's one of my closest friends. I helped her learn about Pokémon and contests and she was always there for me in Hoenn and Kanto. She means a lot to me. I just don't want to do anything to ruin what we have." Alex looked at the boy with a sense of sympathy. He felt bad for his friend who had tried sorting out his feelings on such short notice, but was trying to help him get to the truth.

"So would you care if she went out with someone else?" Alex asked. Ash shot up at the thought of May dating someone else. They looked back to see Drew had taken Ash's spot with May and began talking to her about strategies used in the Grand Festival. May had begun listening intently at the coordinator's lecture, her eagerness obvious to the group. Drew smirked as he flipped a strand of hair out of his face, trying to act cool. On the contrary, he was feeling very proud of himself at the moment.

_He doesn't waste any time_, Alex thought before looking back at Ash, who now looked clearly uncomfortable at watching the two.

"So you're not bothered by that, huh?" Alex asked sarcastically, causing Ash to look towards the ground with a scowl.

"It's not like I care who she talks to." Ash said childishly.

"Oh quit acting like a brat." Alex retorted. "You're a little jealous. Admit it. You have to admit, he's got her eating out of the palm of his hand."

"Come on, knock it off." Ash said annoyed, accidentally bumping into Alex's right arm. Alex winced as he felt a surge of pain in his forearm that caused him to slow down for a second, clutching his right arm as Lucario moved closer to his trainer, making sure that he was okay. Ash stepped back a bit as he saw Alex try to hide his pain, Pikachu sharing the same worried expression on his face. Before he could say anything, Ash saw Alex turn towards him with a look of warning.

"Don't say a word." Alex whispered in a serious tone, a voice that Ash hadn't heard in a long time. The two started to walk at the same pace as an awkward silence fell on them.

"Alex, are you ok?" Ash asked his friend who started to silently breath in and out.

"Yeah I'm fine," Alex replied in a pained voice. "It's nothing I'm not used to." Alex tried to avoid talking about the subject, but Ash still had one question.

"It's still hurting after all this time?" Ash asked with a concerned voice, earning an annoyed look from Alex.

"Don't worry about it." Alex merely waved off his concern. "It's not like it's going away right?" Ash still looked at him with worry as he stopped clutching his arm, his face now slowly returning to the same grinning expression he was wearing before. "Can we not talk about this now?"

"Alright." Ash submitted as they walked down the road, still not convinced he was okay but started to put the original conversation back on course. "Anyway, why do you care so much? It's not your problem."

"True, but I don't want you to be alone." Alex said as his face grew a little more serious. "I can tell you care about her and I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do, but if you feel that way about her, then find out if she feels the same way."

"What if…" Ash said quietly. "What if she doesn't…?"

"If you're wondering if she doesn't care, just think to what she said to Paul earlier. Someone who didn't care wouldn't say something like that." Alex said before walking further. "Think about it." Alex and Lucario picked up the pace, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone as he walked. The thoughts of what happened earlier filled his mind, how May defended him in front of Paul without hesitation, how she defended his bond with his Pokémon, something he held more sacred than anything else in the world. He walked alone in his current pace, racking his brain and his heart for the answers that eluded him. He never felt more confused.

End of Chapter 5

Well, things are starting to get interesting. What will Ash decide to do about May? Will Drew stand between him and May? And what is Alex's purpose in all this? You'll have to tune in to find out. Until then.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello fellow anime fans. BlazeTrigger here. Well, here it is. Chapter 6 of Rival's Revenge. This chapter should give people some insight to the reason behind the title of the story. This one's a little longer than my other chapters but I got so into it that I had to stop myself before I wrote the whole story, and where's the fun in that? Anyway, nothing important to mention, just please review and as always, enjoy. Constructive criticism is appreciated. And with that, let's keep this ball rolling, shall we?

Author's Note: I do not own Pokémon at all. No copyright infringement intended whatsoever.

Revision: just some punctuation corrections and a little extra detail here and there. Some new thoughts from Dawn's point of view on the events but nothing major that would affect the story as I previously wrote it.

Rival's Revenge

Chapter 6: A Deal in the Dark: Arrival in Lucrezia Town

Ash walked in silence alone as he thought about what Alex had said. He always thought of May as a good friend to him, but never as anything more than that before, let alone a… _girlfriend_. He gulped at the unfamiliar thought that entered his head as he walked, wondering how things became so complicated with him thinking of a girl as more than a friend. But what he couldn't get out of his head was what Alex told him about May defending him when Paul insulted him. He couldn't understand exactly why she went to all that trouble for him.

_Why did she defend me?_ Ash thought to himself. _It's not like I hate that she did it, but she's never said anything like that to anyone before. Was she just being nice or what? Is Alex right? Does she… I don't know what to think now. All I know is that I don't want to mess things up with her and lose my friend. What should I do?_

"Pikapi," Pikachu softly called to his friend as he poked his cheek with his paw. Ash snapped out of his trance and looked to Pikachu, who now wore a look of obvious worry for Ash. Ash simply smiled back at his partner as stroked Pikachu's chin with his finger, causing the Pokémon to relax.

"You can always tell what I'm thinking about, huh buddy?" Ash asked his friend.

"Pika pika." Pikachu replied as he relaxed under Ash's finger scratching him. "Pika pi Pikachu pika?"

"Yeah I do," Ash replied as he stopped scratching his Pokemon. "It's just I don't know how much, that's all."

"Pi Pikachu pi pika pikachu pika, Pikapi kachu pi pika pikachu pi."

"I know Pikachu," Ash said as he began to look down at the dirt road, his smile starting to fade away. "I just don't want her to hate me if I say something ya know?"

"Pikapi," Pikachu said as his eyes grew more concerned. "Pika pi pika?"

"Don't worry about me Pikachu. I'll figure something out. I just need to think about things for a while." Pikachu gave Ash a small lick on the cheek, causing Ash's large smile to return. "Hey come on, I feel better now." Ash laughed as his friend licked him. "Why don't you go back to the others? I'm sure they're worried about you."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded his head before bouncing off Ash's shoulder and making his way to Piplup and the others, who all had concerned looks on their faces. Pikachu began to explain in so many words that Ash was alright, leaving out any incriminating information, as Ash noticed they didn't look at him differently. Ash let out a small laugh at the sight, thankful his friend decided to keep his secret. Ash took one more quick look at Alex who was now arguing with Lucario once again before slowing his pace down to catch up with his friends, who were now looking at Ash with concern.

"Ash, are you ok?" May asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." Ash replied with an awkward laugh. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were talking to Alex and we heard you yell about something." Dawn added as she looked at the trainer. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Guys, I'm fine." Ash lied. "Alex just said something really random that's all. Don't worry." May and Drew merely looked at Ash for a couple of seconds, not buying the young man's story. May looked at him with worry while Drew looked at him with suspicion, knowing a lie when he heard one, but decided to keep it to himself for now. Dawn looked towards Alex who was now done arguing with Lucario and now looking back towards the group with a knowing grin on his face, surprising Dawn. She became annoyed at the young man for one he upset her friend, and two he had already begun to act before she could.

_That little sneak!_ Dawn fumed inside her head. _I can't believe he beat me to the punch. Whatever he said, must have hit right on the head too._ Dawn started to grin her own evil grin as she began to devise her own plan of attack._ Alright Alex, two can play at this game._ Dawn started to chuckle evilly, catching the attention of her friends, who wondered what she was thinking about. They assumed that it would be best to ignore her at the moment, believing that no good could come out of asking her. Ash began to talk to May and Drew again, this time listening to their story about something that happened in Olivine City, Ash now wearing his trademark smile again. Alex merely looked at him with a frown as he thought about his conversation with him.

_Sorry Kid,_ Alex thought to himself. _I know you'll probably hate me after all this, but I don't want you to miss out on finding something this interesting._ Alex could feel Lucario's gaze boring into his skull, quickly turning around to see his partner looking at him with both concern and suspicion. "Oh come on Lucario, don't you think I've been interrogated enough today?" Alex asked his partner who merely continued to gaze at him. "To answer your first question I'm fine." Alex said as he rubbed his arm, chuckling slightly. "It still stings but I'm okay. Damn thing still drives me crazy though." Lucario started to snarl at him until Alex's face took a more serious look. "And for your second question, I admit I think this might be a little harder than I originally thought. I may need some help. Fortunately…" Alex said as he looked back at the group with a grin. "I think I found someone who's willing to help out." Alex grinned as he looked at Dawn, who was looking back at him with an evil grin, though not for the reason he thought. He looked back towards the road and saw a large hill not too far, a look of surprise on his face.

"Hey guys, I think it's just over that hill." Alex called over to the group as he picked up the pace. The group began to run over to where Alex was, as Ash and May ran towards the top of the hill past Alex while Dawn, Brock, and Drew along kept up with Alex. Pikachu ran past the group and back on Ash's shoulder as they ran. The two reached the top and saw the town in front of them, impressed with what they saw. A small town bathed in the light of the orange sun beginning to set as people walked around in their sight, the old style buildings surrounded with life, trainers and Pokémon alike. The rest of the group made their way to the hill and took in the sight as well.

"There it is." Alex beamed as he took in the sight. "Lucrezia Town. Not too shabby, huh?" The group looked at the town with amazement as they began to walk towards the town.

"Not too shabby?" Brock asked rhetorically. "It's amazing. I never thought I'd see so many people in such a small town."

"I can see why you wanted to come here." Dawn said as she looked at the buildings. "This place really is beautiful."

"Yeah, I love old towns like this." Alex said as they walked into town. "They got a lot more personality than big cities. Plus I really like the quiet."

"Well, all the trainers running around kinda spoils the quiet." Drew said as he noticed all the people wandering the streets with their Pokémon. "I'm guessing you weren't lying when you said there would be a big turnout huh."

"There's so many." May added. "I never thought I'd see so many trainers come for a normal tournament before."

"And you can bet a lot of them are high-level opponents too since the Sinnoh League conference is only a couple of months away." Brock added.

"I'm getting excited." Ash said as he looked at all the trainers, clenching his fists in anticipation. "Man, I can't wait to battle all these trainers. How bout you Pikachu?"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu replied, mimicking his trainer.

"Easy you two." May sternly said to the duo. "First we need to find where to register." She said before turning to her friend. "Alex, where do we go to register for the tournament?"

"Hmmm…" Alex pondered as he closed his eyes before a toothy grin. "Hell if I know." The group almost fainted when they heard what came out of their friend's mouth as Alex merely laughed a little while Lucario shook his head.

"You mean you traveled all this way to compete in the tournament, and you don't know where to enter?!" Dawn said almost yelling at the young man.

"I just thought there'd be signs or something pointing the way." Alex said rubbing his head, now embarrassed. "Excuse me if I thought it would be nice to explore a little before we registered." The group looked at him with an annoyed stare before Ash broke the intense atmosphere.

"Well who cares now, we made it right?" Ash said, trying to deflect some of the negative energy from Alex. "So let's just ask someone. With all the trainers here, someone's bound to know."

"Whoa whoa WHOA! Out of the way!" a voice called out as a young man ran right into Ash, knocking both to the ground. The group saw the young man on top of Ash, both groaning from the impact. The young man had short blonde wore a white and orange striped shirt with a green scarf, gray jeans and brown shoes. The young man quickly got up on to his feet with an annoyed look clear on his face. "Alright you, what's the big idea getting in the way like that?! I'm fining you for that! You got ten seconds to pay up. Ten… nine…"

"It's nice to see you too Barry." Dawn said to the young man with a slight chuckle, surprising him.

"Oh hey Dawn." Barry blinked at the girl before turning to Ash on the ground. "Wait Ash, is that you?" He said to Ash as he started to get up from the ground. "What are you doing getting in the way like that?! I'm in a hurry!" Barry yelled at the trainer.

"Well, you're the one who ran into me!" Ash yelled back. "Watch where you're going!"

"You watch where you're going!" Barry retorted as they stared each other down.

"Alright guys, time out." Brock said, causing both of them to stop. "Barry, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to compete in the Lucrezia Town Tag Team Tournament." Barry said as he turned towards Brock. "Come on, everyone knows about it." He then noticed a few unfamiliar faces in the group, the closest to him a girl wearing a green bandana with an orange blouse and skirt with black biking shorts. "Uhm, who are you?"

"Barry, this is my friend May." Ash introduced her to Barry. "She's from Petalburg City in Hoenn. And that's Drew from LaRousse City in Hoenn." Ash said pointing to Drew, who only gave a slight nod as Barry returned the nod. "May, you remember my friend Barry I told you about?" Ash asked. "Well, this is him."

"Oh so you're Barry." May said with a smile as she extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you. Ash has told us a lot of stories about you."

"Nice to meet you too." Barry replied as he shook her hand. "And you're…"

"Alex." the trainer introduced himself. "What's up?" Alex said as he nodded. Barry then turned to Alex's Lucario with a gleam in his eyes as Lucario eyed the boy warily.

"Whoa…" Barry said with a gleam in his eye. "Is that your Lucario? It looks so awesome. I've never seen one with that kind of coat before. It's so cool." Barry said as he eyed Lucario, causing him to lean back from the boy with an annoyed look on his face. "Where'd you get him? What moves can it do? Want to trade for it?"

"Hey Barry," Dawn interrupted, stopping Barry's barrage of questions. "You wouldn't happen to know where we go to sign up do you?"

"Yeah, it's right at the Pokémon Center." Barry said before looking at his Pokétch. His face grew shocked as he saw the time. "But if we're gonna go, we gotta go now! Registry ends at 8 and it's already 7:30!"

"WHAT?!" The group yelled out before looking at Alex with an annoyed look.

"Ya know, while you guys are looking at me like that we're losing time." Alex said with a grin, Lucario shaking his head again.

"We can decide how to punish you later." Dawn said flatly as she scooped up Piplup, Alex cringing at what they could perceive as "punishment." "Right now we've got to get to the Pokémon Center."

"Alright, let's get going." May said before she and Alex pulled out a Poke Ball. "Glaceon, return." May said as she recalled Glaceon.

"Larvitar, return." Alex said as he recalled Larvitar. "Alright Barry, where's the Pokémon Center?"

"Follow me. And keep up." Barry said as he started to run to where the Pokémon Center was, the rest of the group following right behind him. They sprinted through several blocks and several groups of people, much by Barry's inability to move aside while running, with Alex and Lucario in front of the rest of the group who were trailing behind.

"And you said today wasn't gonna be interesting." Alex laughed to Lucario as he ran, Lucario looking back at him with a glare. "I know I know, 'shut up and run' right? You don't gotta tell me twice." The group continued to run as they turned the corner and finally eyed the Pokémon Center. The group entered through the doors and stopped in front of the main desk, trying their hardest to catch their breath. The group saw a woman with red hair in two curls wearing a nurse's uniform, joined by a large pink Pokémon with what looked like a large egg in a pouch.

"Barry, what time is it?" Ash panted, crouching slightly.

"It's… 7:43." Barry panted back as he checked his Pokétch. "We made it with time to spare."

"What are you guys complaining about?" Alex laughed to the group catching his breath. "That was nothing."

"Hey if you remembered where the Center was, we wouldn't have had to run." Dawn glared at the absent-minded trainer.

"Damn, well when you put it like that…" Alex grinned.

"NURSE JOY!" Brock yelled out with hearts in his eyes as he rushed to the Pokémon Nurse's side, kneeling and holding one of her hands in his, catching her and his friends off guard. "I must admit I feel weak and drained from my long journey here, and there is only one thing that can save me from the brink of death: it's YOU my dear!"

"Ohhh…" Nurse Joy said confused by the breeder's actions. The group sweatdropped at their friend as they all let out an awkward laugh while Alex looked with surprise. The action reminded him of someone he knew all too well but quickly put the thought back out of his mind, not wanting to ruin his own mood.

"Should we do something?" Alex asked as he turned to his friends, who hadn't looked all that surprised by their friend's actions.

"No need to worry." Dawn said with a chuckle. "Just watch what happens." Alex looked at the girl confused but turned towards the scene, wanting to see what happened next.

"I can feel my heart overflowing from the love arising from seeing your beautiful face, and I can feel that same love course through my body as I caress your gentle hand-."

"Croa-GUNK!"

"AHHH!" Brock yelled out as he felt something hit his lower back. Croagunk had struck him with his hand, its normal black and orange fingers now coated with purple energy. "Of course… there's always… Croagunk's." Brock managed to get out as he collapsed slowly on to the floor with Croagunk looming over the breeder. Croagunk grabbed Brock's leg and began to slowly drag him away as he laughed through croaks walking towards the door. The group could only look at the breeder as he was being dragged away.

"Croagunk still does that?" Barry asked his friends as they looked at him with an embarrassed look.

"Yeah," Ash simply replied slightly embarrassed.

"Wait, run that by me again?" Alex asked with a worried look on his face. "Croagunk just Poison Jabs him out of nowhere? Does he do that to everyone?" Alex said as he backed away from door where Croagunk walked out of, a ping of fear on his face.

"When Brock flirts with a pretty girl, he gets like that." May explained. "He usually needs someone to rein him back in."

"Should I be concerned?" Alex asked in a deadpan voice.

"Not really." Dawn laughed. "He gets up pretty quickly. He's had a lot of practice at this."

"Well anyway," Ash said as he turned to Nurse Joy. "Nurse Joy, can you tell us where to sign up for the tournament."

"Oh, right here is good." Nurse Joy said with a smile. "You should know that the rules for the tournament entry are a little different here. You can either sign in with a partner before the tournament or sign in by yourself and be given a partner at random. Each battle will follow standard tag battle format, with each trainer using only one Pokémon each at the same time. The battle's over when both Pokémon on one team's side are unable to continue. As for the format of the tournament itself, there will be two blocks: A and B. Each team will be assigned to either block and will compete until there are only two teams left, the winner of A Block and the winner of B block. Whoever wins then wins the tournament. Any questions?"

"No, I think I got it." Ash said as he processed mostly everything Nurse Joy said. "Now who should I pair up with?" Ash said to himself, not wanting another repeat of the Hearthome City tournament. He looked at May for a few seconds who was talking to Dawn and Drew. _I could partner up with May._ Ash thought as a slight blush ran across his face. _We could be alone and… what am I thinking?! I don't even know if she wants to even enter the tournament, let alone with me? Alex, this is all your fault for making all this so confusing._ He shook the ideas out of his mind as he walked towards the group to get a better idea of what to do, passing Barry who was now beginning to sign up. Meanwhile, Dawn was taking turns looking at Ash and May as she stood, now formulating an idea in her head while the same evil grin grew on her face.

_I think I just figured out a way to get those two alone._ Dawn thought to herself. _All they need to do is enter the tournament together. They'll be alone when they train, and when they're not training, I can 'suggest' some ideas for Ash to do with May. A quiet night with Ash and May under the stars, some romantic atmosphere, and then let nature do the rest... _Dawn started to chuckle to herself. _Those two don't stand a chance._

"Dawn?" a voice called to her, who was still in her 'scheming mode' unable to hear. "Hey DAWN!" The voice broke her trance as she jolted from the sudden shock. She turned to the source of the voice: Alex, who was now giving his own annoyed look at the coordinator.

"You okay Dawn?" Alex looked at her. "You seem like you were thinking something very evil just now."

"I'm fine, see? No need to worry." Dawn waved her hands in front of her face with a slight blush on her face, Alex still having the same look on his face as he leaned towards his right as if he noticed something. "Hey Alex, aren't you gonna go enter now?" Dawn asked.

"I might as well," Alex said as he looked to her shoulder. "Though I'm kinda worried about that guy." Before Dawn could see what he was talking about, she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Well hello there Dawn." A voice said behind her as Dawn felt a chill run down her spine. She turned around to see a young man with shoulder length green hair wearing a light green shirt with a green vest with blue jeans and gray sandals. The young man gleamed at Dawn through his square glasses, creeping her and May out.

"Hey Conway." Dawn said unenthusiastically. "What are you doing here?" _Oh great, just what I need right now!_ Dawn cried sarcastically on the inside.

"I'm here to compete in the tournament of course." Conway answered as he adjusted his glasses, his black eyes now clear to see. "Though I never thought I'd run into you here."

"Yeah well a friend of mine's competing here." Dawn replied. "So is Ash."

"Really?" Conway said as he looked over to the unfamiliar faces. "Oh you must be Dawn's friends. I'm Conway, nice to meet you."

"I'm May." May replied nervously. "Likewise."

"I'm Alex, and this is Lucario." Alex introduced them.

"And I'm Drew." Drew simply said.

"Well nice to meet you all." Conway said before turning his attention back to Dawn, the gleam in his eye returning. "So Dawn, are you entering the tournament, if so would you like to be my partner? I haven't entered quite yet so I'm available."

"Well you see," Dawn started to sweat, wishing for any way to get out of this situation. "I can't enter with you because… well… I uh."

"I promised to compete with her." May said as she walked towards Dawn, surprising everyone around them. "We talked about it before we came into town. Right Dawn?" May looked at Dawn with a grin on her face, as Dawn quickly got the message.

"Y-yeah, yeah that's right she did." Dawn said as she looked back at May. "We promised to compete together."

"Oh, I see," Conway said, now feeling slightly crushed. "Well okay then. Another time." Conway started to walk towards the front desk as he signed in for the tournament. As he walked away, Dawn started to register what happened and began to silently panic as her plan fell apart.

_Oh this is not good! _Dawn thought to herself. _My plan's going down the drain as fast as I can come up with it.__ If May is training with me for the tournament, she can't spend as much time as with Ash. And since Conway thinks I'm competing with May, I have to go through with this or else he'll keep bugging me about it. As creepy as he is, I don't want to hurt his feelings either. What should I do? _Dawn was almost about to pass out as Ash walking over to the group.

"Hey, what happened?" Ash asked the girls.

"Well, it seems like I've got a partner for the tournament now." Dawn said slightly embarrassed as she looked at May, hiding her worry.

"May?" Ash looked at his friend. "Really? You two are gonna compete together?" Inside, Ash began to feel his own spirits fall at the news.

"Yeah or otherwise he was gonna keep bugging her as long as the tournament went on." May replied.

"It seems like pretty much everyone's here now." Brock said as he came from out of nowhere.

"Whoa." Alex gasped. "Where'd you come from?"

"Yeah," Dawn said as she shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't even surprise me that much anymore." Dawn said before looking at May. "Sorry May, I didn't mean to get you involved in this."

"Don't worry about it. I can't tell you don't exactly like him. Besides, it'll give us some time to hang out together."

"Well in that case," Drew said as he pulled out a red rose. "I wish you both the best of luck in the tournament May."

"Oh, thanks." May said with a slight blush as she took the rose, as Dawn, Ash, and Alex looked at the scene. While Ash slightly flinched at what he saw, Dawn and Alex could only think one thought at what they saw.

_Oh please._ The two thought as they kept themselves from gagging. However, Dawn had other thoughts besides disgust on her mind as she noticed Ash flinch as once again the gears in her head began to turn.

_Ok, this may be better than I thought, _Dawn thought as the gears in her head began to turn. _I can find out if May likes Ash at all, and Drew may be useful later down the line. With what Ash and Alex were talking about, I can guess that Ash is starting to think about this. I might have to help him out a little. And talk to Alex while I'm at it._ The girls began to walk towards the front desk to sign up for the tournament, leaving the boys alone.

"Anyway," Alex said as he turned towards Ash. "Who are you teaming up with Kid?"

"Oh uh, not sure." Ash lied, now knowing that his first choice was already taken. Alex sensed his friends worry as a slight grin grew on his face.

"Well in that case," Alex began. "I guess it falls on to me to watch your back."

"Wait, you want to team up with me?" Ash said surprised.

"Why not?" Alex shrugged his shoulders. "You're better than a random partner." Alex then leaned in and whispered so only Ash could here. "Plus, we can talk about our discussion earlier."

"Hey, what the?" Ash let out before being cut off.

"Or not. We can decide that later. Now let's go." Alex said as he headed towards the desk with Ash following him right behind.

"What about you Drew?" Brock asked the coordinator. "Are you gonna compete as well?"

"I might as well." Drew replied. "Like I said, I've got nothing better to do. What about you?"

"I think I will." Brock said as a huge smile grew on his face. "There's a chance that I might get partnered up with a pretty girl."

"Or maybe with an ugly guy." Drew smirked as he walked towards the desk, leaving Brock heartbroken.

"Don't even joke about something like that." Brock said deadpanned as he joined him. After a couple of minutes, everyone was all signed up for the tournament.

"Ok all set." Ash called out to the group. "She said they'll announce the pairings in a few minutes."

"Ah man, I'm getting excited." Barry yelled out. "This is gonna be awesome."

"Well I know that the two of us teamed up, we'll win this thing!" May said to the group.

"I know you two are gonna do great," Ash replied. "But if we run into you, you better be ready. I won't go easy on you."

"Well bring it on Ash." May grinned at him. "I'll be more than happy to beat you."

"We'll see about that." Ash laughed with May joining in. Drew noticed the little scene between the two and grew concerned. He noticed that whenever he talked to May, she barely responded to his advances while with Ash she was on cloud nine, showing her beautiful smile. Drew's fist began to clench as he felt something he never thought he felt towards Ash. Envy? Jealousy? He didn't know but he sure didn't like how it felt. All he knew was he wanted May's attention again.

"Attention trainers. Registration is now closed." Nurse Joy said from the loudspeaker, catching everyone's attention. "If you will please turn your attention to the board, I will now show you the remaining pairings and your spots in the tournament brackets. The large screen over the front desk lit up and revealed the pairings for the tournament. The group of trainers looked to see the pairings on the screen.

"Looks like me and Alex are in A Block." Ash said.

"And the first match too." Alex grinned. "This is gonna be good."

"And me and May are in A Block too." Dawn said, seeing their pictures at the end of the bracket.

"Looks like I'm in B Block." Barry started. "With Conway."

"Well how about that…" Conway replied unenthusiastically, still looking down in disappointment.

"So am I," Brock replied as he saw his face paired with a guy with pale skin and dark blue hair. "And no pretty girl either, just some guy named Tobias." Brock started to whine as he felt his heart break, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Now I wonder who predicted that?" Drew smirked as a small laugh escaped his lips, earning a sour look from Brock. Conway looked at the picture for a second, thinking for a second that the man looked familiar to him. But he quickly shook the idea out of his head as he turned towards the group again.

"Hey Drew, who are you paired with?" May asked the coordinator.

"Let's see…" Drew said as he scanned the board for his face. He saw his face at the end of the bracket in B Block and what he saw then, he thought he could only perceive as bad luck. "You got to be kidding me?"

"No way." Ash merely said. The group looked in shock as they saw who Drew was paired with. They saw the face of the same young man they met during their lunch, the same that insulted Ash in front of his friends: Paul.

"Oh great." The group heard someone say. They turned to the young man who was paired with Drew, looking at the board while gathering his Poké Balls from Nurse Joy. Paul headed towards the door as Drew walked towards him.

"Hey, Paul right?" Drew called the young man, who turned towards him, an impatient look on his face. "So I guess we're partners," Drew said unenthusiastically. Paul merely looked at the coordinator before turning towards the door.

"Do us both a favor and stay out my way." Paul replied as he walked out the door, glaring at Ash one last time as Ash returned the glare before exiting the building.

"Jerk." May said under her breath, gritting her teeth. "What's his problem?"

"He's always been like that. Ever since we met him, he's been a pain." Dawn replied, sharing her sentiment.

"Hey I'll be right back." Drew said to the group as he walked out of the Center. Drew saw that the sky had become pitch black now as he looked for his partner, an idea forming in his head. He then saw Paul heading towards the forest and began to follow him, trying his best not to be seen by anyone. He made his way through the trees, losing him for a few seconds and hearing a Poke Ball being opened. He stepped out of the trees and found Paul standing in front of a clearing, now talking to Electabuzz, who was staring at the open field in front of several rocks.

"Use Thunderpunch now." Paul commanded. Electabuzz began to charge electricity in his arm and charged into the rock, breaking it apart using the electrified fist. "Again." Electabuzz repeated the action on several other rocks, turning them all into dust. "Now use Thunder on the rest!" Electabuzz began to charge electricity into his antennae and instead of releasing one large bolt, he released several smaller bolts in an arcing pattern in the shape of a field. Several more bolts arced from the field and extended more and more until it stopped before hitting the rocks. Paul looked to see that Electabuzz was panting from the strain, unable to keep such an attack going. Paul looked at Electabuzz as memories of his battle earlier that day entered his mind, how Alex's Pokémon were able to get past his defenses and able to beat down all of his Pokémon with several hits. Paul growled at his inability to fight, how he was unable to stop him from winning. He quickly shook the thoughts from his head and began to focus on the clearing once again.

"Again!" Paul ordered before hearing a rustling in the bushes, turning to see Drew watching them, his eyes narrowing as he recalled Electabuzz back into his Poke Ball. "What do you want?" Paul asked, obviously wanting Drew to go away.

"Hey, I just want to talk to you for a few minutes." Drew replied as he walked towards the trainer, his usual cocky smirk on his face.

"If you got something to say, spit it out." Paul said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "If you don't, I'm busy."

"Come on, is that anyway to talk to your tag battle partner?" Drew asked half-jokingly as Paul continued to look at him with the same scowl on his face. Drew pushed back his annoyance towards the trainer and continued to talk. "Look, I know we got paired up by chance but I do think we could work together if we got through the problem."

"And what problem is that?" Paul asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"A certain trainer we both know," Drew said with a smirk. "I'm sure you know who I'm talking about…"

"If you mean Ash, I don't need any help beating him." Paul replied as he lowered his eyes. "And even if was stronger than me, I wouldn't ask _you_ for help. Why do you care anyway? Aren't you a coordinator?"

"How did you know I was a coordinator?" Drew asked genuinely surprised.

"I overheard your conversation with your friends. What do you think scared away the Pokémon I was battling?" Drew remembered him saying something about training nearby, but didn't think much of it at the time. "Seems to me that you don't exactly want to be here, let alone compete in this tournament."

"I just want to beat him in front of a crowd," Drew said as he flipped a strand of hair out of his face. "As for why, I've got my own reasons."

"You mean that May chick right?" Paul asked matter-of-factly, catching Drew off guard. "I saw you give her that rose. You're not exactly subtle."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Drew mumbled as a slight blush crept on to his face, trying to save face. "I was just giving her a rose."

"If you're worried that I'll spill your secret or something, don't be. I honestly don't care." Paul said with a slight chuckle, something rare from him, which made Drew slightly uneasy. Paul then went back to his same emotionless face. "If you're that worried about him, then say something to him instead of bothering me."

"All I want is to beat Ash myself." Drew said as he regained his composure, causing Paul to look at him with narrowed eyes. "I figured it would be easier if I had help from you. They did say you were strong."

"And you want me to deal with _your_ problem?" Paul asked rudely before giving a rough smile. "Figures a coordinator can't beat a trainer on their own." The last comment sent a wave of anger through Drew, obviously furious that Paul thought trainers were superior, but managed to keep it under control for the moment.

"In a contest battle, there would be no doubt who would win." Drew said coolly, showing his own sense of superiority.

"Oh sure, parading your Pokémon around like beauty queens sounds like something to be really proud of." Paul said sarcastically.

"But this isn't a contest," Drew admitted, catching Paul slightly by surprise. "It's a battle, with many strong trainers. If it were one-on-one, I'd win. But it's not, so I need your help to win this thing."

"No thanks," Paul said quickly as he turned away from the coordinator. "I have no interest in helping you with your love life. Just stay out of my way and we won't have any problems." Paul began to walk away from Drew, now clearly done with the conversation. However, Drew still had one card to play and played it with a chilling grin.

"You should know that Alex teamed up with Ash for the tournament." Drew said nonchalantly. "If we run into Ash, we run into Mercer as well." Paul stopped in his tracks as he looked at the ground. He remembered the defeat he obtained from the trainer and, while he felt some animosity towards him, he knew he wanted a rematch and this would be as good of a chance as any.

"What exactly are you expecting from me?" Paul asked, not turning around.

"I'm not asking you do anything shady," Drew grinned as Paul turned around. "Just help me in the tournament. I'd prefer not having to battle the opponents and my partner at the same time, that's all."

"And that's it?" Paul asked, trying to lay down any ground rules.

"That's it." Drew said as he walked towards Paul. "So how about it?" Drew asked as he held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?" Paul looked at Drew with suspicion, not liking this deal at all. However, he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to defeat both Ash and Alex in one fell swoop.

"Deal." Paul said as he reached out and shook Drew's hand.

"Alright. In that case, I'll be heading back to the Center now. I need some sleep if we're going to win this thing. I'll find you tomorrow to talk strategy. See ya." Drew waved as he walked back to the Center. Paul stood there as he looked at the coordinator, feeling that he just did something he shouldn't have. He then recalled Electabuzz back outside of its Poké Ball to begin training again. Meanwhile, a pair of sharp red eyes could be seen glaring through the trees, watching the whole scene play out in front of him.

"Well, isn't that interesting?" The voice said as a small grin appeared on his face.

End of Chapter 6

Dun dun duhhh! The deal has been made, what will this new alliance spell for our heroes? Will Ash be able to sort out his feelings? And with Dawn and Alex pulling the strings, will things go awry? You'll have to stay tuned to find out. Until then.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello fellow anime fans. BlazeTrigger here. Well, you waited patiently and here it is: Chapter 7. Before we begin, to all those who have been reading, following, and reviewing my story, thank you very much. I truly do appreciate you reading this and for all the feedback. Second, for those of you who believe that I'm trying to make Drew as some kind of villain, just to set the record straight, I'm not trying to make him some mustachio-twirling villain here, I'm just trying to expose some of the flaws in his character without making him too OOC. And for those of you who haven't already, there were some revisions made for chapter 6 that included a few thought scenes and some minor additions in dialogue that improved the chapter but doesn't affect the overall story too much. Please feel free to read if you wish. For this chapter, this one is a little longer than my previous one because I started writing and really got into it, and I just couldn't find a good stopping point until the end of the chapter, so fair warning. This chapter should have a lot more shipping moments than my others, so here's where things are going to get interesting. As always, please review and any constructive criticism is appreciated. And finally, please enjoy. So without further ado, let's rock and roll, shall we?

Author's Note: I do not own Pokémon at all. No copyright infringement intended whatsoever.

Revision: The name of the announcer: Lillith. And several grammar corrections

Rival's Revenge

Chapter 7: The Eve Before Battle: The Lucrezia Town Tournament Begins!

The group waited for Drew returned as they all looked towards the door. They all were roughly thinking what the outcome of the encounter between him and Paul. Both Ash and Dawn knew how cold Paul could be towards people and Drew's general attitude wouldn't improve the situation at all. May was concerned whether Drew would be alright talking to Paul. Considering her own perceptions of Paul, she didn't trust him at all. To their surprise, they saw Drew walk into the Pokémon Center wearing a smirk on his face.

"What happened with you and Paul?" May asked Drew as he walked back into the center.

"We just had a little talk. Everything's fine." Drew said as he looked at her, putting her worries to rest.

"Exactly what did he say to you?" Dawn asked the coordinator with a hint of suspicion in her voice, not completely believing that the conversation between the two was civil.

"We managed to call a small truce for now." Drew explained, conveniently leaving out his deal with Paul. What he just said shocked everyone, Ash especially considering his history with the trainer.

"From what I know, Paul doesn't make friends with anyone." Ash mentioned to Drew, now suspicious of what happened outside. "What did you say to make him listen to you?"

"Nothing important," Drew said as he flipped a strand of hair out of his face. "Just that we have similar goals, that's all."

"Similar goals?" Ash asked curiously. "Like what?"

"That is none of your business." Drew smirked, causing Ash to glare at him. "Would you quit looking at me like that? I told you nothing happened. Everything's fine." _At least it will be soon._ Drew thought to himself. He looked at the group and noticed that several of their numbers were gone. "Where did everyone else go?"

"Barry and Conway went to the cafeteria to eat." May started. "Brock went to feed Happiny. As for Alex, he dropped off his Pokémon already but after that, I'm not sure."

"Here he is." Alex called out from behind them with Lucario by his side, surprising the group.

"Whoa, where'd you come from?" Ash gasped as Alex walked towards the group.

"Seriously Kid, your mom didn't give you this conversation yet?" Alex gave a very large grin as the group looked at him knowing that he would say something unpleasant. "Fine then, when a man and woman really love each other-."

"Alex…" Dawn interrupted him, glaring daggers into him.

"Alright fine," Alex grinned as he rubbed his head. "I'm just trying to have a little fun. To answer your question, I was just taking a little walk around the place. I thought it would be a good idea to familiarize myself with the terrain before all the fun starts. Right Lucario?" Lucario gave a nod as he looked towards the group. "Anyway, I'm getting kinda hungry, so I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat before all the good stuff is taken. Let's go Lucario." And with that, Alex and Lucario walked towards the cafeteria as Alex hummed a simple tune to himself. The group looked at him for a second, believing that he was up to something. The mutual suspicion was interrupted by two sounds, both the rumbling stomachs of Ash and May. The two looked at each other slightly embarrassed.

"I guess after everything that's happened, we're still hungry huh?" Ash asked her with a slight laugh.

"I won't argue with that." May returned the laugh. "Come on. Let's get something to eat."

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded in agreement. The two began to walk towards the cafeteria with Drew walking right behind them before being stopped by a voice, Ash and May not hearing her call out to the male coordinator.

"Hey Drew, can I talk to you for a second?" Dawn asked the coordinator before he got too far, putting Piplup down on to the ground. He turned around with his usual smirk, suspecting nothing from her.

"What's up?" Drew asked the blunette.

"I wanted to know exactly what you said to Paul to get him to work with you." Dawn said with a slightly suspicious tone.

"Like I said, we found some common ground." Drew said as he shrugged his shoulders, wearing the same smirk on his face. "After that, we started to understand each other a little bit better."

"Look, all I know is that Paul's a jerk towards mostly everyone." Dawn started to explain. "The only people he shows a shred of respect to are trainers stronger than him or something along those lines. And since he's never met you before, I'd expect he acted like he wanted nothing to do with you. And from what I can tell, you don't play well with others yourself, do you?" Drew smirked at the last comment she made as he walked closer to her, making her feel uneasy. Piplup started to glare at the young man as he started to gather energy in his beak, but not attacking just yet.

"I happen to think I have a very charming personality." Drew said with a small smile as he gently took one of Dawn's hands in his. "I wish you could see that. Maybe we could-."

"And don't you even think about trying to flirt with me either." Dawn pulled back her hand, now clearly annoyed. "I can see right through you. Especially after that rose you gave May."

"I was being sincere you know." Drew chuckled as he noticed the slight blush on Dawn's face, now pleased with himself. "It's seems like you think that too."

"What did you say to him?!" Dawn demanded, starting to get annoyed with him.

"Fine, I said that we could help each other out with the tournament, and we both had a common interest in wanting to win. That's all." Drew replied with a serious look on his face.

"And that's all?" Dawn said as she raised an eyebrow.

"That's all." Drew waved off her concerns. "And just so you know, I have nothing against other people." Drew said as he turned around. "I just happen to like cute girls more." He said coolly before heading over to the cafeteria, thinking he heard her whisper "this isn't over." He shook the thought out of his head as he walked away, leaving Dawn and Piplup on their own.

"What is with that guy?" Dawn mused to herself, looking back at her hand, the one Drew held. She replayed what happened in her mind, thinking about what Drew said and did. She felt a strange combination of her heart beating faster in excitement and a chill running through her body in disgust. She quickly took her mind off of what happened and scooped Piplup into her arms once again, the Penguin Pokémon wearing a concerned look on his face. "It's nothing Piplup." Dawn said to her Pokémon. "Let's go eat with the others."

"Piplup." Piplup nodded slightly, still slightly worried about his trainer.

"Don't worry Piplup." Dawn smiled at him as she patted his head. "I'm not going to let that guy get to me. Let's go. Besides we still need to ask Alex about what happened earlier."

"Piplup." Piplup responded happily as they made their way to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, on a bench near the front desk, Brock was preparing to feed Happiny who was happily chirping at her trainer who was preparing her a bottle. All the while, Brock began stealing glances at all the girls that he perceived as "potential girlfriends," letting his mind wander. As he was lost in thought, Happiny was starting to look around the room and began to make her way off the bench. As Brock snapped out of his daydream, he quickly finished preparing Happiny's bottle and looked to his side.

"Alright Happiny, dinner is ser-." Brock started before he saw Happiny making her across the hall away from him. "Happiny wait!" Brock yelled out to his Pokémon as she ran away.

"Hap hap happiny." Happiny chirped as she walked across the floor, not paying attention. As she walked past the legs of various trainers and Pokémon, Happiny hit something and fell down. She looked up and saw what she ran into: the leg of a tall man with long grayish-blue hair and pale skin. He wore what looked like a gray, long-sleeved jacket and pants with the pant legs having a long red stripe on the sides, matching the long red cowl that covered his entire upper body. The man stood stoically as he looked at the Pokémon who bumped into him, his light green eyes looking at her with a slight interest.

"Are you alright little one?" The man asked as he bent down to meet her at eye level. Happiny looked at the man with a slight twinge of fear in her eyes at the man's mysterious aura. She then began to cry at the man, who was now wearing a surprised look on his face. "Please don't cry." The man said as he tried to calm her down to no avail. He then got an idea on how to calm her down.

"Here you are." The man said as he pulled out a small pink berry from his sleeve and gave it to Happiny. The Playhouse Pokémon hesitantly grabbed the berry with her small pink arms. She took a moment to smell the berry before taking a small bite out of it, now knowing it was free of danger. Happiny then gladly began eating the berry while calming down as she stopped crying, causing the man to calm down. "Now where's your trainer?"

"Happiny?" A voice called that caught both the man and Pokémon's attention. It was Brock looking for his young Pokémon with a look of worry on his face. Happiny cried out to Brock as loud as she could, catching his attention. Brock walked towards her and the man with a look of relief on his face as the man looked at the two. Happiny ran towards her trainer's leg as he came towards the two, happily chirping at him.

"I take it that this Happiny is yours?" The man asked Brock.

"Yeah it is," Brock answered as he looked down at his Pokémon. "You shouldn't run off like that Happiny." Brock said sternly. "You had me worried there. Just be thankful that this man found you before you got hurt."

"Happiny…" The Playhouse Pokémon sadly chirped as she hung her head down at the ground.

"My apologies little one," the man said as he looked down at Happiny, the young Pokémon chirping at him with a smile on her face as he lightly patted her head. Brock came over to his young charge and scooped her up into his arm.

"I'm sorry about that." Brock apologized. "Happiny can get a little caught up in stuff sometimes."

"It's no problem." The man said as he gave Brock a curious look before recognizing him. "You're Brock I take it?" the man asked the breeder as he extended his hand. "I'm Tobias. It's nice to meet you."

"Same here." Brock responded as he shook Tobias' hand with his free one. "So we're partners in the tournament right?"

"That's right. Our first match is the first in B Block. We should probably discuss our strategy before our match starts so we won't be caught by surprise. Do you have time now?"

"Well, I was just about to join my friends for dinner. Care to join us? We could talk there."

"I appreciate the offer, but I prefer eating alone." Tobias said with a small smile. "Well, we can discuss it later if you prefer. Please excuse me." Tobias began to walk away into the nearby hall away from Brock and Happiny.

"Hey wait a second." Brock called out to Tobias as he walked away. But he continued to walk until he was out of sight, leaving the breeder and his young charge alone. "Tobias. He's definitely a mysterious one." Brock said to himself as he looked down the hall. "I wonder what kind of trainer he is?" He decided to save the questions for another time and then turned to Happiny. "Come on, what do you say we go see everyone else?"

"Happiny!" Happiny cheerfully said. The breeder walked towards the cafeteria with Happiny in his arms, walking past the front desk without seeing Nurse Joy, much to the nurse's luck. They made their way into the cafeteria to see his friends eating with each other, with Barry and Conway among them. Ash and May were eating at their usual horrendous pace while the rest of the group was eating at a slower pace. Alex was asking Ash and May several questions about the tournament while Barry chimed in several questions of his own to Alex about Lucario.

"Hey guys." Brock said as he approached the table as he looked at Ash and May with a slight chuckle. "I see you guys already started without me."

"Unfortunately," Alex merely shrugged while eating a bite of his pizza. "Those two apparently don't know the meaning of the word 'restraint.'"

"That I know all too well." Brock laughed at the comment.

"So what took you so long? Flirting with Nurse Joy again?" Barry asked as he took a bite from his burger.

"Actually, I ran into my partner Tobias." Brock mentioned. "He seems alright but I can't tell what kind of person he is. He's very polite to say the least, he even helped Happiny when she got away from me."

"I just can't help thinking that I've heard his name before." Conway mused to himself. "It's like the answer is right on the tip of my tongue. I hate it when that happens."

"Don't worry about it partner, I'm sure it's nothing all that important." Barry told Conway as he stuffed a bunch of fries into his mouth.

"You're probably right." Conway simply said as he ate a bite of his salad. Brock looked around the table as he looked at the rest of the group, and noticed that something was not right.

"Where's Dawn?" Brock asked the group.

"Right here." Dawn said as she walked in with Piplup with a smile on her face. She placed Piplup down on to the floor to meet Pikachu. She looked at the scene that was taking place between the two of them, both eating like a pair of Munchlax at an all-you-can-eat buffet, while Alex asked them several questions about each other with a small grin on his face. Dawn knew that he was at it again and decided to intervene.

"Hey Alex, can I have a word with you?" Dawn said wearing a sweet smile with her arms behind her back, with a tone that spelled nothing but trouble for him.

"Can't it be said in front of witness- I mean our friends?" Alex asked, starting to feel that he just did something he shouldn't have.

"I prefer it be between you and me, if it's not too much trouble." Dawn answered in the same way. Alex looked at the girl and recognized the look in her eyes; the look that said "shut up and come here." He knew that when talking to a woman, there was only possible course of action for him: compliance.

"Sure…" Alex trailed, not wanting to get hurt by the girl. Alex gave a quick look towards Lucario while saying nothing as Lucario nodded his head back at him. The trainer got up and followed the girl to another table as he felt the curious gazes of everyone else as they saw them walking away. Alex considered saying something to her, but was met with a glare appearing out of the back of her eye, once again telling him to shut up for now. The two reached a table at the other end of the room and Dawn sat down in one of the chairs while Alex sat in the other.

"Ok Alex, start talking." Dawn said suddenly, catching Alex off guard.

"You mean you want me to talk more than I already have?" Alex joked. "I mean people have said I'm in love with the sound of my own voice but I didn't know…"

"Quit joking around Alex." Dawn chastised him. "What did you say to Ash earlier?"

"Why whatever do you mean Dawn?" Alex said coyly as a grin spread on his face, obviously knowing what she was talking about.

"I meant back on the road when you two were talking about something. When Ash freaked out about something you said. What did you say to him?"

"Well…" Alex began, getting ready to gauge her reaction. "I happened to ask the Kid if he had a crush on anyone."

"WHAT?!" Dawn practically yelled, catching everyone's attention and earning a larger grin from Alex, which annoyed her slightly. She looked around to see everyone looking at her with curious eyes, but decided to stay out of it. She calmed herself down before continuing in a quieter voice. "Why'd you ask him that of all things?"

"Well, I was curious." Alex replied matter-of-factly. "I didn't know that was a crime." Dawn looked at him now seriously annoyed at him, with Alex now looking at her slightly serious. "Why are you so curious anyway? It was a private conversation ya know."

"You know exactly why Alex." Dawn fumed, wanting a straight answer from him. "Just tell me what you're up to."

"You wouldn't be trying to set Ash and May up would you?" Alex asked.

"I thought I told you that I was going to." Dawn said. "What exactly were you thinking when you asked him that?"

"Maybe I wanted to help you out." Alex merely replied with the same grin. "Is that really all that bad?" Dawn looked at the trainer with surprise. She wasn't ready for what he had just said, that Alex was doing things on his own without considering her in the equation.

"Really?" Dawn merely asked.

"Yeah, as dense as the Kid is and naïve as May is, it's gonna be a two person job anyway." Alex replied. "You seem really into this, so I would really like to help you out with this."

"Well then…" Dawn grinned an evil little grin. "I suppose I could use a henchman for this."

"Whatever you say oh supreme leader." Alex joked with her, causing her to laugh. "How do you want to play it?"

"Well since, Ash and May can't compete together in the tournament, we'll have to divide and conquer." Dawn started to explain with a smile on her face.

"You take May and I take Ash?" Alex guessed. "We both try to work on them and bring them together?"

"You got it." Dawn answered him. "If we can get those two to wake up to their feelings for each other, then we can just sit back and intervene when necessary."

"I like the way you think Dawn." Alex smirked at her. "Well, I take it we start tomorrow? We will have some time to work on this."

"Tonight should be better." Dawn answered him. "We should probably still strike while it's still fresh in their minds. Oh, one more thing. We should probably keep an eye on Drew. I had a little conversation with him earlier and I don't think he was telling the truth about what happened between him and Paul."

"That I don't doubt." Alex merely said, not adding any other usual quip to the situation. He noticed Dawn's face looking a little nervous as her eyes looked as though they were in a trance. "Something else happened too didn't it?" Alex mentioned seriously as she quickly became surprised. "I can be pretty perceptive when I need to. What happened?"

"I think Drew tried to flirt with me when I was asking him what happened." Dawn recalled with a scowl on her face. "I don't know what to think about him. He gives May a rose and then he turns around and tries to hit on me. He's just…"

"An ass?" Alex said with a smirk.

"I was going to say a narcissist but I won't argue with you." Dawn said. "Anyway, we need to keep an eye out for Drew, I don't know whether or not he'll be a problem or useful down the road. But let's keep this conversation to ourselves for now."

"Could Brock help out with this?" Alex asked her. "He seems to know something about love."

"Ask him first if he has any ideas, but if he starts saying anything crazy, then don't let him get involved." Dawn added. "He can be helpful in situations like this but we'll see."

"Got it." Alex nodded as he got out of his chair.

"One more question Alex." Dawn asked him as he got up. "Why are you so interested in helping out with Ash and May? You barely know them." Alex took a second to think about it before showing one of his signature grins.

"Curiosity I guess." Alex simply said as he walked towards the group. Dawn looked at the boy with a confused look before getting up herself and walking towards the group. She saw Alex once again asking Ash and May questions with reckless abandon while Drew gave a snarky remark at Alex from time to time. Barry was yelling at the trainers at the table while Conway stole glances at Dawn from time to time with his creepy glare. All the while, Dawn felt a headache coming on.

_Why is it that all the guys I know are seriously annoying?_ Dawn thought to herself before looking back at Ash as a slight smile grew on her face. _Well, at least not all of them are like that._ She felt a slight blush creep across her face as she thought about him, but quickly shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. _What am I thinking?! Ash is my best friend, just my friend and… nothing more I think._ She quickly made her way back to the table where everyone was sitting, now trying to silently compose herself.

"What was that all about?" Barry asked the blunette curiously.

"Oh nothing, just a little conversation between me and Alex." Dawn smiled sweetly as she got back up to get something to eat. The group looked at Alex who all had an interested look on their faces.

"Hey, don't look at me." Alex said to the group. "I'm sworn to secrecy." The group wanted to ask more questions, but they saw Alex begin to talk to Lucario again and Dawn coming back with her salad digging in. They all knew that they wouldn't get any more information out of those two, so they all continued to eat their dinner. When they were finished, they all dropped off their Pokémon with Nurse Joy. The group was then assigned their rooms by Nurse Joy and led them one by one to their rooms. Barry, Conway, and Drew were assigned a room while May and Dawn were given the room across from theirs. Next to the girls' room was Ash, Alex, and Brock's room, who were all now entering their rooms and getting ready to sleep. In their room, Brock and Ash were already in their night-clothes: a white t-shirt and blue gym shorts for Ash and a green shirt and tan pants for Brock. Sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the wall was Lucario, trying to catch a little sleep, occasionally looking at Pikachu who was lying near Ash's side. Alex was in the bathroom taking a shower while the two began discussing certain events that happened today.

"Man I'm tired." Ash said as he hopped on to his bed as Pikachu jumped on to the bed with him. "We gotta get some sleep for tomorrow, right buddy?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pika pika." Pikachu replied as Ash started to scratch him behind his ears, causing Pikachu to relax under his touch.

"Well, we have had a pretty eventful day." Brock said as he flipped through a book he was reading. "After everything that's happened, we could definitely use some sleep. I'm just glad we can do it in a bed today instead of camping outside."

"I gotta tell ya, today was hectic." Ash said as he laid down on the bed as Pikachu joined him lying on his stomach. "First Team Rocket shows up, then I see Alex after all these years, and now we're competing in this tournament. Some day huh?"

"I agree." Brock said as he put down his book. "Alex is a pretty interesting guy. It seems like he doesn't let things phase him all that much. Even almost missing the registration."

"Alex has always been like that. Since we were kids, he's always tried to joke his way out of stuff. But what I'm amazed by is the fact he beat Paul." Ash thought back to what happened earlier that day, the battle between Alex and Paul. He remembered how Alex was able to get through all of Paul's attacks and was able to knock out his Pokémon with only a few hits. "He's really gotten strong."

"Something tells me he was playing around with Paul back there. Like he was just trying to have some fun with him. I wonder what he's like when he battles someone for real?"

"I'm not sure. But if I'm gonna win the Sinnoh League, I gonna have to figure out a way to beat him too. He won't be easy. But at least you guys are here to cheer me on. Even May's here to see us. With that, there's no way we won't win, right buddy."

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as he pumped his fist into the air.

"Hey Ash, I've been meaning to ask you," Brock asked his friend. "Do you know what May was talking about when she said that there was another reason she was here?"

"Come to think of it, I'm not sure." Ash said as he put a finger to his chin, trying to think. "We never got to ask thanks to Team Rocket capturing Pikachu and Drew interrupting us before she could say anything."

"Well Team Rocket's always been a pain in the butt, and Drew's always been hard to deal with. You know that."

"I just wish he'd treat her with a little more respect that's all. The guy acts like she's not even on his level. If you ask me she's way better than him."

"Ash, are you okay?" Brock asked his friend with a hint of concern in his voice. "I've never heard you talk about Drew like that before. Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Thanks but I've already talked about way too much for one day." Ash chuckled slightly as he picked Pikachu up before placing him on his side.

"What do you mean?" Brock asked curiously.

"Come on guys, don't start the interrogation without me." A voice said jokingly as the two looked towards the bathroom door. It was Alex, now dressed in his night-clothes: a red t-shirt with black gym shorts. He wore the same necklace with Emboar's Poké Ball connected to it and the same necklace worn under his shirt. But what was most noticeable was the large blue cloth wrap over his right forearm, reaching from his elbow to his wrist. While Brock didn't know why he wore such a thing, Ash knew all too well what he was hiding. But he knew that if he said anything to the others, Alex would never forgive him, so he decided not to ask him about it. "So what's going on?"

"I was asking him about how he was talking about May and Drew." Brock answered him.

"Really?" Alex said with a grin, knowing where this was going. "Please, do tell."

"Come on guys. I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about. Really." Ash told them. "I just don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Hey Alex, what were you two talking about on the way into town?" Brock asked the young trainer, thinking back to what Ash said before.

"Alex don't you tell him." Ash glared at Alex, knowing he would say something just for a laugh.

"What's wrong Ash?" Brock asked his friend.

"He's upset because I grilled him about how he's in love with May." Alex said with a large grin.

"ALEX!" Ash yelled at his friend with a large blush on his face, now clearly furious with his friend who was merely looking at the two trainers while Lucario let out a loud groan.

"Really?!" Brock almost yelled as he looked at his longtime friend.

"M-maybe… I don't know okay?" Ash told them. "Ever since Alex said something, I don't know what to think about her anymore."

"Hey, don't worry Ash." Brock said, trying to calm him down. "Take a deep breath and just explain what made you think about her like that today." Ash took a deep breath and began to explain the events of today: seeing her get off the boat, eating with her again, telling stories and laughing with her, and how she defended him in front of Paul, something he had never seen her do before. As they listened, both Brock and Alex looked at the boy as if they were seeing their little brother growing up. After Ash finished explained how he felt, Brock then looked at him with true impressiveness in his eyes, as far as they could tell. "Wow Ash, I never thought you'd ever think that way about a girl. I got to say I'm proud of you. So have you told her yet?"

"I haven't said anything to her yet." Ash said with a blush as he looked down towards the floor. "I don't even know if I really feel that way about her."

"Well now you got plenty of time to figure it out Kid." Alex started. "The tournament will last a few days and during that time, you can spend a whole lot of time with her."

"Well now I can't spend any time with her during the tournament." Ash said as he hung his head down. "She's teamed up with Dawn now so they'll be competing together. I won't have a chance to hang out with her."

"That just means you have to spend time with her outside of the tournament." Brock said matter-of-factly. "How about after the first round tomorrow, you invite her to do something with you?" Brock suggested.

"Like what?" Ash asked.

"Take a walk with her through town, buy her an ice cream, take her shopping if she wants." Brock prattled on. "Just spend time with her. And make sure she has fun. If she isn't having fun, it's not their idea of a date."

"A date?!" Ash asked as he gulped loudly.

"Yeah, what else would you do with the girl you like?" Alex grinned slightly.

"I didn't think it would be a date though." Ash said sounding scared. "What if I mess things up?"

"Then roll with it." Alex said loudly. "In order to successfully win a fight, you have to adapt to your enemy's behavior and your own shortcomings. Then you can claim victory."

"You know this isn't a fight Alex." Ash said sweatdropping. "It's trying to figure out if I'm… if I'm in love with May."

"Life is a battle Kid." Alex said with a large grin. "Men must welcome that challenge and everything that comes with that challenge." Ash said nothing, slightly upsetting Alex who wanted to see the reaction. "Ok look, we'll help you out before the date happens, but first things first. You have to ask her first. After that, it's easy. Sound good?" Ash looked at the two who both had smiles on their faces before looking at Pikachu who was now giving his Pikapi a thumbs-up in approval of the plan. Ash then raised his head high with confidence.

"Alright, I'll do it. Tomorrow, I'll ask May out on a date." Ash yelled out as he pumped a fist into the air. "I will do it!"

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu mimicked his trainer. The others laughed with him as they finally saw Ash lift out of his bad mood.

"Alright, we have a plan of attack." Alex responeded with a large grin. "Tomorrow, you go to war my friend."

"First things first, we should probably get some sleep." Brock suggested. "We have a long day tomorrow."

"You're right." Ash answered as he laid back on to the bed, grabbing his partner. "Goodnight Pikachu." Ash hugged his Pokémon. "Good night guys." Ash said as the others laid on to their own beds. "Oh and guys… thanks." Ash smiled at them who both replied with a slight smile. They all started to fall asleep as they thought about tomorrow, thinking about the challenges that awaited them on the battlefield and off.

Meanwhile, May and Dawn were talking with each about the adventures each of them shared while they were both traveling. Both were wearing their night-clothes: Dawn wearing a white shirt under a pink sweatshirt that was unzipped down to her stomach with pink pants and May wearing a similar outfit, with her sweatshirt and pants orange instead of pink, both of them without their headgear holding back their hair.

"Seriously?" Dawn said shocked. "Harley did that?"

"Yeah he did." May answered as she recalled her fourth contest in Hoenn. "He managed to rig the speakers so that the conversation could be heard through the whole stadium. He tried to win by embarrassing me."

"But you kicked his butt." Dawn said with a grin. "I'm sure he was running away with his tail between his legs."

"Yeah well, if Ash hadn't snapped me out of it, I would have lost." May thought out loud as she thought about the battle. "He really got me out of a jam there."

"Ash has always been a big softie when it came to helping other people." Dawn started to recount her experiences with the boy. "I still remember him trying to encourage me before my contests and how he always tried to help others out whenever he could."

"Come to think of it, he's always been there for me when I needed it, no matter what was happening at the time." May thought with a bright smile. "I guess I've always admired that about him, his concern for other people I mean."

"You don't say." Dawn said with a sly grin growing on her face, the wheels in her head once again beginning to turn. "So May, you never told me the other reason you came back to Sinnoh, besides coming to cheer Ash on." Dawn said to the coordinator, who now had a nervous look on her face.

"Well, to be honest, I really don't want to talk about it." May said with a slight blush as she pressed her index fingers together. "It's nothing really."

"Oh come on May, we're friends right?" Dawn asked, beaming at stumbling on to what she thought would be a gold mine. "Come on, tell me please. I won't tell anyone else." _Unless it's really important._ She thought to herself.

"Okay." May let out a breath as she was about to say what she's been holding back. "You know that I think of Ash as one of my best friends, right?"

"Yeah I know. I think of him the same way." Dawn replied, trying to hide her intent.

"Well, what if I told you that I've been thinking about him more and more lately?" May told her while her cheeks glowed a clear red.

"No way. Really?!" Dawn asked in complete surprise while inside, she was doing a victory dance. _I knew it! I knew it! Now all I need is just a little more info and I'll be ready to report back._ "When did this happen? I want details."

"Well, it started in after I left the Wallace Cup here and came back to Johto." May started to explain with a small smile on her face. "When I came back, I felt like I was on top of the world again. New ideas for appeals came rushing into my head, like back during the good old days. And even when he wasn't there, I remembered what he said to me before I left. I knew that he always believed in me. I guess somewhere down the line I started to entertain the idea of being his girlfriend, how kind and gentle he was, and to be honest… I kinda liked it." May started to blush deeper as she spoke.

Dawn was beginning to feel ecstatic. This is exactly what she was waiting to hear. Right then and there she wanted to tell her that Ash felt the same way, but knew that doing so would complicate things, especially since she didn't know how Alex was faring on his end. "So are you going to tell him how you feel? Do you need any help?"

"It's not that simple Dawn." May told her friend, trying to calm her down. "I don't think Ash is the only one I have these feelings for."

"Really?" Dawn asked. "Who else were you thinking about?" _Please tell me it's not him! Anyone but-._

"Would you laugh if I told you I've thought about Drew that way?" May asked blushing even redder.

"Drew?!" Dawn yelled out. _No no no! Hell no! Why him of all people?!_ "Why him? Didn't you tell me that he was always talking down to you? Treating you like you weren't on his level?"

"Yeah well, he always talked to me like I wasn't giving it my all, but I could tell that was his way of seeing me improve as a coordinator. Sometimes I felt like he was trying to help me in his own way. I never thought of him as boyfriend material, but you have to admit, it wouldn't be so bad if he could just smooth out all the rough parts of his personality. He is…-"

"Okay I get it, you don't have to finish that for me." Dawn interrupted her. She thought back to what happened during her conversation with him and she knew right then and there that he was hard to trust. "So is that why you really came back here to Sinnoh? To see how you really felt?"

"After I came back to Hoenn after the Grand Festival, I talked to my mom about what I felt, everything about Ash and Drew." May began to explain. "She said that it would be a good idea for me to explore how I felt about them. And that's when I decided to see Ash again. I needed to know if I thought of him as a friend or something more."

"And you brought along Drew too?" Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Exactly what did you think would happen if Ash and Drew had to spend time together?"

"I never expected Drew to tag along with. He practically invited himself along when he found out. I never thought anything of it at the time." May shook her hands in front of Dawn, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "It definitely made things more confusing though to not spend time with both of them separately."

"That's putting it mildly." Dawn said deadpanned. "Well, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm not sure." May looked down to the ground. "I know I've got until the Sinnoh League is over before he'll go somewhere else. I keep thinking I'll have to make a decision soon before things get too complicated."

"Well don't decide anything right now." Dawn calmed the girl down as she grabbed her shoulder with one hand. "I'll help you through this okay? We'll talk about this during the tournament and we can sort all this out so you can make a decision with no regrets. Okay?"

"Really?" May asked her. "You'd do that for me?"

"No need to worry." Dawn answered her with her usual bravado. "I promise I'll do my best to help you out."

"Thanks Dawn." May thanked her while giving her a hug. "I really appreciate you helping me with this."

"Don't worry about it." Dawn replied back to her. "Come on, I think it's time we get some sleep. We're gonna need it for tomorrow."

"You're right." May said as the two girls got up and headed to their beds. They both slipped under the blankets and began to drift off to sleep, with May thinking about what to do about the two boys in her life, while Dawn was thinking of more pressing matters.

_Alex, I hope you're having better luck than I am_. Dawn thought to herself before drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, the sun was starting to rise over the small town, the soft sunlight bathed over the buildings and grass, giving it a light glisten as various Pokémon moved across the town. The whole town was filled with people walking towards the stadium in the middle of town, all excited for what was about to happen.

"Come on, we gotta get to the stadium!"

"This is gonna be good." A groan from a Pokémon could be heard from beside the human.

"Hey come on wait for me!" Voices could be heard all across town as people flocked to the stadium to watch the tournament. Watching everything that happened from behind a nearby building was a small Pokémon with long green hair. It had a white coat that covered its entire upper body, including its arms and face, ending at its waist in a pattern of frills that looked like a tutu. Its legs were long and skinny, sharing the same green color as the Pokemon's hair. The Pokémon had two pink round horns that came from both sides of its head. It stood there looking at the scene with its pink eye as one of them was covered by its bangs, the Pokémon curious to what was happening.

"Kirlia?" The Pokémon asked itself before looking to where the humans were running towards: the large stadium in the center of town. The Pokémon began to run there on its tiptoes as fast as it could, wanting to see what all the commotion was about.

When the group woke up, they found that Drew and Paul had already left for the stadium as well as Tobias, so they decided to run to the stadium to make it in time. The group managed to make their way to the stadium after running for ten minutes and were directed by the guards towards the center of the stadium, and what they saw surprised them. They saw the entire stadium filled with spectators in the stands and the stadium filled with more than a hundred trainers, the crowd all cheering loudly for the show to start. They were amazed that so many people would come for such a local tournament. The group made their way to the center of the stadium and took their places. Along the way, Brock managed to find Tobias and walk towards him, greeting him who in turned gave him a polite nod. The group also found Paul and Drew, who were now arguing about something but couldn't hear them. They all took their places and turned their attention to the front of the stadium, where the large screen showed the face of the announcer, a woman with long blonde hair and dark green eyes. She wore a red blouse with a white jacket and a pink skirt with red heels. She gave a large wave to the crowd as they all roared in excitement.

"Good morning everyone, trainers and Pokémon alike!" The announcer called out to the crowd as they roared. "My name is Lillith, and welcome to our beautiful Lucrezia Town: the town where hopes and dreams truly bloom. And now, without further ado, I declare that the Lucrezia Town Tag Team Tournament will begin!" The crowd roared even louder as the trainers in the center stadium stood there, looking around at the crowd. Some waved at the crowd, others gave a glance at the audience, and others merely stood there. Ash and Alex stood looking towards the crowd while May and Dawn were waving at the crowd with a smile on both of their faces. Tobias stood looking at the crowd while Brock was blowing kisses towards the announcer. Barry was waving energetically at the crowd and Conway gave the crowd a small wave, while Paul and Drew could be seen looking away from each other slightly. "For those of you who don't know the rules, let me break it down for you. There will be 64 teams competing in this tournament, with 32 competing in Block A and 32 competing in Block B. The winners of each block will advance to the finals of the tournament and whoever wins that match wins the tournament and the grand prize… the amazing Lucrezia Medal and these amazing twin Mystery Items: the Heart Shard and the Soul Shard, which will increase a Pokémon's power when paired together."

The screen revealed a gold medal with a pattern of flowers on the edges and the symbol of two shards connecting to each other. The two items could be seen on the screen: one a small ruby shard with a gold stone deep inside it and a sapphire shard with a silver stone deep inside it. "Now let's get started with the first match of Block A." The announcer said as everyone turned their attention to the large board revealing the faces of the two teams that were about to fight. "Our first match will be Ash Ketchum and Alex Mercer vs. Clayton and Trish. Please report to the battlefield."

The two young trainers made their way to their side of the battlefield while the rest of the trainers headed for the competitors stands and waiting rooms to watch the battle. As most of the trainers left, only two were left remaining, a grizzled man in his early thirties with black hair and eyes, wearing a red flannel shirt and overalls with brown boots and a young woman in her mid-teens wearing a light blue sundress with a matching hat and parasol along with white dress shoes. Her shoulder length blonde-hair could still be seen from her hat as she looked at her opponents with her teal eyes, liking the opponents that she saw in front of her. The referee walked in between the two teams as the announcer began to speak again.

"Alright, this will be a Double Battle with each trainer only having one Pokémon to use. The battle will end when both Pokémon on one side are unable to continue. Now bring out your Pokémon!"

"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash called out to his friend.

"Pika!" Pikachu called back as he sprinted to his place on the battlefield.

"Lucario, let's do some damage!" Alex called as Lucario leapt on to his trainer's back and jumped into the air, the Aura Pokémon landing on the ground, kneeling before standing up into a fighting stance.

"Steelix, let's get to work!" Clayton called out as he threw a Poké Ball. The device revealed an extremely large snake-like Pokémon made up of several connected stones covered in what looked like a metallic alloy. The Pokémon had two spikes on several of its stones and a flat head, it's piercing red eyes looking down on the two smaller Pokémon as a menacing growl escaped its lips.

"Drifblim, come out my lovely!" Trish threw her Poké Ball into the air, revealing smaller Ghost Pokémon in the shape of a blimp. The Pokémon had a dark purple upper body that led into a lighter colored lower body with a red tuft at the bottom of its body, four thin, purple arms extending from there with yellow at the end of them. Its face had a yellow x-shaped symbol and its head was adorned with a white tuft in the shape of a cloud. The Pokémon floated there peacefully as it looked to its opponents with it small red eyes. Both Pikachu and Lucario looked at their opponents with determination in their eyes as their trainers mirrored that same determination, the two other trainers staring right back at them. Sparks began to fly in anticipation as they waited for the call.

"Now let the battle begin!"

End of Chapter 7

What will the result of the battle be? Will Ash be able to ask May out? And will Dawn and Alex be able to help Ash and May? You'll have to tune in to find out. Until then.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello fellow anime fans. BlazeTrigger here. First of all, sorry for the late submission this time. It took me awhile but I finally found time to write this thing and now it's here for your reading pleasure. Second, this chapter is mostly a couple of battle rounds with some advanceshipping thrown in to set up the next few chapters. This is still AshxMay after all, and I want to be true to that. Also, for those of you who are wondering what Tobias is doing in the story, I wanted to expand on his character a little, and not just make him some super opponent, a person with his own goals and ideas. I'm surprised that no one asked about that. I always try to make things interesting when I write something. Back to the fight scenes, I wanted this chapter to highlight the styles of the double battle format for the tournament and I thought it would be good to set the tone. Plus, I always thought I sucked at fight scenes, so I needed the practice haha. Finally, as usual, if you guys see anything major that needs to be tweaked, like if something doesn't make sense or something is missing, feel free to review and I'll look into it. And with that, let's get this party started, shall we?

Revision: Slight grammar updates and a change in dialogue during the last conversation between the group during May and Dawn's battle, Barry comments on their opponent's weakness.

Rival's Revenge

Chapter 8: The Start of the First Round: An Unusual Dance and a Blinding Assault?

"Alright, we'll go first." Ash started as he looked towards the field. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Drifblim!" Ash ordered his partner.

"Pika-CHUUU!" Pikachu yelled as a large Thunderbolt ripped out of his body, heading right for the Blimp Pokémon. However, the Pokémon merely floated calmly as a grin grew on its trainer's face.

"Steelix!" Clayton yelled out to his Pokémon. "Get in there!"

"ROAHHHR!" Steelix roared as he slithered in front of Drifblim, understanding what Clayton had in mind. The Thunderbolt hit Steelix as he now stood in front of his partner. However, as the electricity coursed through his body, he felt no pain at all, the energy now being dispersed and released through his body, causing Trish to let out a large laugh.

"Come on now my dears." Trish laughed at the two trainers. "You're not going to bore a lady, are you?"

"Lucario, use Aura Sphere on Steelix!" Alex shouted out as Lucario began to gather his aura into his hands. The energy began to condense into a golden ball of energy as Lucario focused on the Iron Snake Pokémon. He then threw the ball of energy towards his target, the attack speeding towards Steelix with very little time for it to react. However, Drifblim quickly sped in front of the attack, surprising both Lucario and his trainer.

"Drifblim dear, block it with Shadow Ball!" Trish called out to her Pokémon. Drifblim began to gather energy in the form of a black ball and quickly launched it at the oncoming Aura Sphere, the two attacks colliding against each other, vying for dominance as energy began to crackle around them. The two balls of energy then exploded in a stalemate, kicking up the dust from the battlefield. As the dust swirled the group looked down from the stands at the battle taking place, trying to see what happened.

"Steelix and Drifblim, huh?" Conway asked himself. "That's a pretty strange combination to have. I wonder what those two are thinking."

"Who knows?" Barry replied as he tried to see what was happening.

"With Steelix being a Steel and Ground Type, Pikachu's Electric attacks won't have any effect on it." Brock started. "Lucario could handle that, but with Drifblim being a Ghost Type, Lucario can't hit it with its Fighting Type moves."

"Meaning those two are in a tight spot." Dawn finished as she looked to the boys with worry.

"They'll be fine." May responded to the group's doubt. "They won't lose this quickly."

"That wasn't a normal colored Aura Sphere…" Drew mused to himself, thinking that the attack was reminiscent of a contest move. Drew turned to a figure that stood away from the group, Paul looking at the battle with his usual emotionless expression. Standing in a nearby hallway towards the top of the stands was Tobias, also watching the battle with a stoic look on his face. Unbeknownst to them, another group was looking at the match with a certain interest, the group wearing blue shirts and jeans with yellow aprons and hats. The group was carrying various snacks from large yellow boxes hanging from their necks. However, they weren't focused on serving snacks at the moment.

"The twerp seems to be in quite a pickle." The blue haired man said to the group. "Even with the demon twerp helping him out."

"Yeah, they don't seem da be able da hit Steelix or Drifblim." The small cat-like Pokémon added. "Wonda what they're gonna do now?"

"I know what we're going to do once we get Pikachu…" the man grinned as the Pokémon joined him.

"James! Meowth! Quit slacking off!" The red-haired woman barked out at them, getting both of their attention. "We have to sell the rest of these snacks or we don't get paid or eat. And I am not going without either. Got it?!"

"Well I didn't want to say anything Jess, but you have gotten a little-." James started.

"Choose your next words very carefully." Jessie hissed as she glared at the two, ready to deliver swift punishment to them at the next word. James and Meowth looked at each other with fear in their eyes, knowing what would happen if they continued the joke. They then turned around away from Jessie and headed up the steps as fast as they could, scared for their lives.

"Hot dogs! Chips!" Meowth called hastily to the stand.

"Ice cold drinks!" James added with a twinge of fear in his voice. Jessie looked at the two with a proud smile on her face.

"That's what I thought." Jessie smugly said as she stood there.

"Wooobbuffet!" Wobbuffet saluted behind her for no reason, earning a large sigh from her trainer as she made her way up the steps, Wobbuffet waddling right behind her. As they walked up the stairs back to work, they unknowingly passed another onlooker, this one a small white and green Pokémon, having been watching the battle in wonder, wanting to find out what happened.

"Kirlia?" The Pokémon asked itself as it saw what was happening. The dust cleared to reveal both Pikachu and Lucario standing side by side, but only Drifblim could be seen. Somehow, its gigantic counterpart was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, where did Steelix go?!" Ash pondered out loud as he looked around the battlefield.

"One guess…" Alex answered as he looked at the ground, figuring out where the Iron Snake Pokémon was hiding.

"Steelix, come on out now!" Clayton called out to his absent partner. And on cue, a large tremor surged through the spot where Pikachu and Lucario were standing. Both Pokémon shook from the tremor as they looked down at the ground, wondering what was causing such a massive tremor. The trainers looked at their Pokémon as they tried to regain their balance.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled out to his partner.

"Lucario!" Alex did the same, trying to warn him. But it was too late. Steelix emerged from the ground in between Pikachu and Lucario, the mighty Iron Snake Pokémon roaring as he struck both of the Pokémon, knocking them away from each other as Steelix eyed Lucario.

"Steelix, use Iron Tail!" Clayton ordered out. Steelix began to wind its tail back as it began to glow a bright white, its gaze focused on the Aura Pokémon as it brought its tail down towards the ground.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ash answered back. "Pikachu, block it with Iron Tail!" And with that Pikachu began to run towards Steelix as its own tail began to glow white, bolting right in front of the colossal Pokémon. Pikachu then jumped up in the path of Steelix's tail and struck it with his own tail, the two attacks colliding in midair. While the struggle occurred, Alex saw his chance.

"Now Lucario, Close Combat!" Alex ordered.

"Pikachu, break off the attack!" Ash called out as Pikachu gave one last push that caused Steelix to reel back slightly, giving Lucario the opportunity it needed. Lucario jumped towards Steelix's face and began to land blow after blow on the Iron Snake Pokémon, focusing on power instead of grace as with Team Rocket. Lucario ended it with one last strike of its tail that sent Steelix into the ground. The large Pokémon felt the impact of the attack and sat in the dirt groaning, but not unconscious as both Pikachu and Lucario landed back on the ground and moved back into their stances, now focusing on Drifblim.

"Nice one." Alex grinned as he saw the damage.

"Great job both of you!" Ash thanked the two Pokémon. Lucario let out a confident grunt as Pikachu let out a confident "Pika" as sparks began to crackle out from his cheeks. "Now let's take care of Drifblim before Steelix gets back up."

"Hey girlie!" Clayton said sternly as he turned to his partner. "Feel free to jump in at any time!"

"You know, you should never rush a lady." Trish replied with a huff as she looked towards the field, earning an annoyed look from Clayton. "Now it's my turn if you don't mind!" Trish called out. "Drifblim, use Ominous Wind!"

"Drif-BLIM!" The Blimp Pokémon moaned as it raised its arms into the air. And with that, Drifblim's red eyes began to glow as a large ghostly wind began to blow from the Blimp Pokémon and spread across the field. The wind surrounded itself around both Pikachu and Lucario as they felt pain from the force of the attack. However, the attack also came towards Steelix who was beginning to get up again.

"Steelix, use Dig again!" Clayton bellowed out, the Iron Snake Pokémon lunging towards the ground again, avoiding the dark wind. Pikachu and Lucario both looked towards the ground, wondering where the next attack would come from, all while enduring the Ominous Wind attack.

"Kid, I'll try to find Steelix," Alex called out to Ash. "You take care of Drifblim. If we can't stop Drifblim from hitting us while our backs are turned, we won't last too much longer."

"But what if Steelix hits us while we go after Drifblim?" Ash asked, trying to understand what Alex was planning. "We can't tell where he is, let alone stop him."

"We'll make sure he won't." Alex replied. "Lucario and I got a few tricks up our sleeves; we won't let Steelix get in your way. Just take care of Drifblim before this gets too crazy."

"Got it." Ash nodded as he looked to Pikachu. "Pikachu, stop Drifblim with Thunderbolt!" And once again, a huge bolt of electricity surged from Pikachu's body, heading directly for Drifblim, who was still launching the attack.

"Dodge it quick!" Trish called out to her Pokémon. Drifblim tried to move out of the way, but it wasn't fast enough. The Thunderbolt hit Drifblim as volts coursed through its body, stopping the Ominous Wind completely as Drifblim floated groggily. "Drifblim, are you alright sweetie?" Trish asked her Pokémon with concern in her voice before turning to the boys. "How dare you treat a lady with such disrespect!"

"Pikachu, get in close with Quick Attack!" Ash called out to Pikachu. Pikachu bolted across the stadium as a white trail followed where it ran, the Electric Mouse Pokémon heading right for Drifblim. As Pikachu sped directly for Drifblim, Clayton eyed the Pokémon with anticipation as he looked towards the field. As Pikachu ran, he felt a rumbling below his feet that caused him to stop in his track, knowing what was going to happen soon. Alex saw this and immediately knew what Clayton was planning. Unfortunately for Clayton, he was not going to let it happen.

"Lucario, try to sense where Steelix is." Alex said to his partner. Lucario closed his eyes and began to breathe as his two bangs began to lift. He began to sense the aura around him: the people, the plants, the Pokémon, any living thing around him, focusing on anything that was underground. He scanned the area for a moment before finally found what he was looking for, the large Pokémon that was slithering underground, immediately opening his eyes once he knew the location of his target.

"You found him?" Alex asked his partner, who replied with a nod. "Okay, let me know when he's about to attack." Alex replied before turning to Ash. "Kid, I found him. Keep an ear open for my signal."

"Got it!" Ash answered. "Pikachu, keep running towards Drifblim!" Ash ordered while Pikachu gave his trainer an affirmative nod, now once again running towards his target without any hesitation. Pikachu once again felt a rumble in the ground as he came closer and closer to Drifblim. Clayton was about ready to give the order but Alex was already on top of it as Lucario gave out a loud grunt.

"Kid now!" Alex shouted to Ash.

"Pikachu, dodge it!" Ash shouted to his partner as Pikachu immediately ran to the right, just dodging the debris of rock as Steelix once again rose from the ground. However, this time Steelix hit nothing but air, much to Clayton and Trish's surprise. Pikachu ran to the edge of the stadium before stopping to see what happened.

"Way to go Pikachu! Now head right for Drifblim!" Pikachu once again sped for Drifblim with the same glowing white trail while Clayton stood there mouth agape, wondering how they knew where Steelix was.

"Drifblim my lovely, use Will-O-Wisp!" Drifblim began to form small orbs of blue fire that slowly circled around it, aiming at the Electric Mouse Pokémon. Drifblim then fired all the orbs at Pikachu, who was running right towards them.

"Now Pikachu, jump and use Thunderbolt!" Ash called out. Pikachu jumped into the air as the Will-O-Wisp hit the ground where Pikachu stood. Both Trish and her Pokémon looked into the air to see Pikachu over their heads, charging electricity in his red cheeks.

"Pika-CHUUU!" Pikachu yelled as a Thunderbolt coursed through the air.

"Drifblim, use Protect quick!" Trish called out. But as Drifblim brought up the green barrier to protect itself, the attack reached it, breaking through it and once again charging the Blimp Pokémon with a several thousand volts of electricity. Drifblim felt itself float dangerously close to the ground as it caught its breath, now clearly on its last legs.

"No!" Ash grunted as he gritted his teeth. "Almost had it."

"It's still not down?" Alex asked himself, actually surprised with the Pokémon's tenacity. "Stubborn ain't it?" As he saw Drifblim struggle to get back up, he noticed that Steelix was now in front of Drifblim, both protecting it and waiting for his trainer's orders. He couldn't help but think that he's seen this pattern before.

_There's something about these two_, Alex thought to himself as he noticed the Pokémon's movements. _They've been using the same pattern since the match started. When one attacks, the other hangs back and waits to defend the other. And when one finishes their attack, the pattern switches. It's just like a dance, and we've been moving to their tune this whole time._

"Clayton?" Trish turned to her partner, who was beginning to fume at the two young men. "Could you be a dear and help us? We can't take any more hits or we're going to lose." Trish could see that Clayton wasn't paying attention to her pleas, and the young woman was not happy about it. "Clayton? Are you listening to me? It's not polite to ignore a woman when she's speaking." But Clayton couldn't hear his young partner. His anger was already starting to take control as he started to clench his fists. He then glared at the two Pokémon trainers with a clearly angry look on his face.

"Alright you brats, I've had enough of this!" Clayton yelled out to the two. "Alright Steelix, use Earthquake!" Clayton ordered angrily. Steelix roared out as he slammed his tail violently into the ground over and over, causing massive tremors to erupt all over the battlefield. Pikachu and Lucario began to lose their balance as the tremors reached them. All the while, large pieces of rock began to jut out of the ground as Steelix continued the attack. However, Drifblim was unaffected by the attack as she floated out of the way. The attack carried all across the stadium as people braced for impact. Paul stood from his place away from the group moving slightly from the Earthquake, the sour look on his face never leaving while the rest of the group tried to find their footing.

"Now use Will-O-Wisp!" Trish followed suit as Steelix began to slow down his Earthquake attack. Drifblim began to form the swirling blue orbs of fire. This time however, it began to launch the flames one after the other in a rapid fire fashion, all aiming right for Pikachu.

"Pikachu, spin and use Thunderbolt to block!" Ash called out to his partner. Pikachu jumped in front of Lucario and began to spin on his back while discharging a strong electric current. As Pikachu spun around, the Thunderbolt began to surround him, traveling in the same arc as his spin, forming a barrier around Pikachu. The Thunderbolt began to collide with the Will-O-Wisp as the orbs were now put out as fast as they came. Both Clayton and Trish looked surprised at the Electric Mouse Pokémon while Alex turned to Ash who was now wearing his own grin.

"That was amazing!" May cried out from the stands as she saw what Pikachu had just done. "What did Pikachu just do?!"

"That was a Counter Shield." Dawn answered with a wink. "It's a technique that lets a Pokémon defend and attack at the same time."

"And Ash came up with that?" Conway asked solemnly to the group. "I would have never thought to use Thunderbolt quite like that. A useful move indeed."

"Yep, he even beat Fantina with that move!" Barry loudly confirmed Conway's thoughts, thinking back to the Gym Battle in Hearthome City with the Ghost-Type Gym Leader, Fantina. How Ash was able to block her moves while delivering damage still ringed clearly in his head, both becoming very impressed and admitting the first sign of respect towards his new rival that day.

"Hey Dawn, has Ash ever participated in any Pokémon Contests?" Drew asked her suddenly, catching everyone off guard.

"Only one or two really." Dawn answered his question, not entirely sure where Drew was going with this. "He entered in the Jubilife Contest with me and even the Wallace Cup. Why?"

"That move he used looks like a Contest move." Drew said as he crossed his arms, trying to hide his annoyance.

"Well, he's always helped me out with my Contests and watched me perform." Dawn explained as she recounted her experiences with Ash. "When he was still trying to create the technique, he was in the process of trying to create his own style."

"I guess that means he's taken a lot of influences from his travels." May finished as she looked to the boy who was looking towards the field, now starting to regain his confidence. She was amazed at how far he had come since she met him, how he only seemed to get better and better every day. Beside the group, Paul was watching the battle intently, especially the move Ash had just used, remembering his last battle with him and how two of his Pokémon had used the move against him. He noticed at this point, Pikachu and Lucario both stood there panting heavily as they looked at their opponents, who were repeating the action. One could see Clayton was furious with the lack of progress with the battle and decided to end it once and for all.

"Steelix, finish this with Crunch!" Clayton bellowed out to his Pokémon. The Iron Snake Pokémon slithered towards both Pikachu and Lucario as he opened his large mouth, ready to finish them both off.

"About time you came in close." Alex said in a serious voice, catching Clayton off-guard. "Lucario, use Dark Pulse on Steelix. Everything you got." And Lucario began to gather his energy into a wave of dark energy, this time adding all the power he had left as Steelix inched closer and closer. When the Iron Snake Pokémon was merely a couple of feet away from them, Lucario released the wave of dark energy in Steelix's face. The attack had enough force to push Steelix across the stadium, and to his trainer's surprise, the Pokémon landed right on his own partner, who now had no energy to float away.

"Steelix!" Clayton called out in shock.

"Drifblim!" Trish did the same. They looked to see that Steelix and Drifblim were tangled up, but both barely conscious now. Both Clayton and Trish looked at the scene in horror as they knew there was now no way to fight back. With this, Alex had one last idea.

"Hey Kid, ready to end this?" Alex turned to Ash with a grin.

"Oh yeah." Ash returned the grin, now turning towards the battlefield.

"Then follow my lead." Alex replied as he turned back to Lucario. "Now it's our turn to change the tune! Alright Lucario, now use Bone Rush!" Alex called out with a grin as Lucario brought both of his hands together. As he spread them apart, a long staff of gold light formed in the shape of a bone. Instead of attacking however, Lucario held out the staff in front of Pikachu. Pikachu looked at the Aura Pokémon with a confused look as Lucario gave him a quick grunt. The Electric Mouse Pokémon gave an affirmative nod, understanding what he wanted, and leapt on to the staff as they targeted the two Pokémon that were now tangled up. Clayton and Trish looked at the two Pokémon with confusion, trying to figure out what they were doing. "Now throw Pikachu!" Lucario then threw Pikachu using his staff towards Steelix and Drifblim with all his strength, Pikachu now flying right towards them.

"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!" Ash ordered to his Pokémon.

"Pikapikapikapikapikapika PIKA!"Pikachu yelled out as he came closer to his mark. As Pikachu flew through the air, he began to gather electricity in his cheeks once again. However, instead of releasing it in one giant bolt, he allowed the electricity to covered him in a veil of electricity, speeding right for the two tangled Pokémon who both had a shocked look on their face. Pikachu collided with Drifblim, who felt the full force of the electricity. The current coursed into Steelix, who was now too weak to resist the electricity anymore. The area was covered in a field of electricity as the patrons watched in amazement in what was happening. Among them, Lucario was the most interested as he stared at the attack, his face now completely surprised as he sensed something he recognized immediately. The attack ended in a large explosion that kicked up a large dust cloud that covered all three Pokémon, causing everyone in the stands to look up at what happened. As the dust cleared they saw that Pikachu was heavily panting with a spark of electricity coursing through his body, hurting it and his two opponents lying on the ground unconscious, to both Clayton and Trish's horror.

"Steelix and Drifblim are unable to battle." The referee called out. "Pikachu and Lucario win. The victory goes to Ash and Alex."

"Unbelievable!" Lilith yelled out to the crowd from her place in the stands. "In a stunning upset, Pikachu and Lucario delivered a devastating knockout to the twin titans Steelix and Drifblim! Now that's the way to start a Lucrezia Town Tournament off, don't you think?! Let's give a big round of applause for both our teams!" And with that, the crowd roared with applause at the two teams, as both Pikachu and Lucario made their way back to their trainers, with Pikachu leaping into Ash's arms and Lucario slowly making his way to his trainer with a knowing look on his face.

"Pikachu, you were awesome!" Ash hugged his partner. "I'm really proud of you buddy."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu happily replied as he nodded his head to his trainer.

"Not too shabby brother," Alex grinned at Lucario as he held out a fist to his Pokémon. "You never fail to put on one hell of a show." Lucario returned the grin as he bumped his own fist with Alex's, now with Pikachu making his way onto Ash's shoulder and Lucario standing next to Alex giving a look towards Pikachu. The boys could see their opponents recalling their Pokémon with a defeated look on their faces, Clayton's face showing less emotion than Trish's.

"Good work Steelix." Clayton said as he recalled Steelix. "Now get some rest." Clayton placed the Poké Ball on his belt and began to towards the hall out of the stadium, leaving his partner with her Pokémon.

"Drifblim, my lovely, you were the most beautiful flower out there." Trish told her Drifblim as she recalled it back into its Poké Ball. She then looked over to the boys who were now feeling proud of themselves. "Oh boys?!" Trish called out to Ash and Alex, catching their attention. "Don't think this is the last time I'll be seeing you. Our battle was like a fragrant bouquet of flowers. And I can't wait to smell that wonderful aroma again." Trish said to them, giving the two a wink. The young woman walked away with a satisfied smile on her face, leaving a bewildered look on Ash's face and a large grin on Alex's.

"Hey Alex, what was that all about?" Ash asked his friend, oblivious to what the girl meant, receiving an amused look from his friend.

"I'll tell you later, sound good?" Alex replied with a laugh as he and Lucario walked towards the hall, enjoying the boy's density. Both Ash and Pikachu looked at their friend and then to each other with a confused look on their faces, now both scratching their heads over what happened as they followed him.

"They did it! They won!" Barry happily yelled out to the group, throwing his arms into the air.

"What a great battle." Brock added. "Those two really hung in there."

"I told you they would win." May beamed at her friends, now happy at the results of the battle.

"Well, now you know we can't let the boys show us up, right May?" Dawn turned to her partner with a grin.

"You know it." May returned the grin, brimming with confidence. "We're the ones who are going to beat them and get to the finals."

"Those two are going to be very interesting opponents to face." Conway smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "I honestly can't wait to see what happens next."

Drew turned to see Paul looking towards the two boys on the battlefield with the same emotionless look on his face before walking away from the railing into the hallway, passing Tobias, who himself had a stoic look on his face. He turned away from the battlefield and made his way into the hall, wondering what awaited him for his own battle. Unbeknownst to them, Kirlia had begun cheering for joy from its spot, now thoroughly entertained.

"Kirlia! Kirlia!" Kirlia cheered while clapping, catching the attention of some of the people sitting beside it. One child, who was amazed by the sight of it, reached out to touch Kirlia. However, the Pokémon quickly closed its eyes and started to concentrate, immediately disappearing from sight in a blur, much to the child's confusion. Meanwhile as the two victors made their way through the hallway, discussing the battle, they were met by a most welcomed intrusion.

"Ash, Alex, you two were great out there!" May called to them excitedly as she ran up to the two trainers, obviously excited at the battle.

"Thanks May." Ash replied as she got close, trying to fight off a small blush.

"You guys really did well out there." Brock added as he made his way towards Ash and Alex.

"Yeah, I'll say," Barry looked excitedly at the group. "I thought you guys were gonna get flattened by that Earthquake, but you pulled it off with that Volt Tackle. Man, that was awesome!"

"Naturally." Alex flashed his usual grin, now showing his confidence from the battle. "I could have saved you the time in telling who'd win, ya know." And with that, everyone sweatdropped from the comment. But Alex simply waited a moment before immediately turning to Lucario, not with an annoyed or angry look on his face, but rather a worried one. "That's weird."

"What's wrong?" Drew asked him, slightly curious at his comment.

"Lucario usually ends up saying something that pisses me off right now." Alex answered as he crossed his arms, looking at Lucario. "Then I answer, and we fight, and you know the rest. But he's not saying anything now, and I gave him an easy one too." Alex then approached Lucario and placed his left hand on his Pokémon's forehead. "You feeling alright man?" Alex asked his friend. "You didn't get hit too hard did you?" Feeling embarrassed, Lucario swatted Alex's arm away with a scowl and turned away from the group, surprising everyone, especially his trainer.

"Well what do say about heading back to the Pokémon Center for right now?" Brock suggested to the group, trying to break the awkward atmosphere. "We still have some time before May and Dawn's match and I'm sure you two would like a break." Brock explained as he looked at Pikachu and Lucario, who both gave an affirmative nod.

The group walked back to the Pokémon Center, talking about the match as well as Ash and Alex quickly became the center of attention. All the while, Lucario, who was walking slightly behind Alex, began to glare at Pikachu who was riding on Ash's shoulder, now knowing what he suspected all along. After a few minutes of walking and talking, the group reached the Pokémon Center and Ash and Alex gave Nurse Joy Pikachu and Lucario to examine, as both Nurse Joy and Chansey politely smiled and bowed before leading the two Pokémon with her to the examination room. Alex turned around to see Ash walking towards May with a nervous smile on his face, looking back at him who merely replied with a thumbs-up. Brock shot a quick supporting nod to Ash as he passed by, who now passed by Barry and Conway who had just started discussing their strategy in the tournament. Brock made his way to Tobias as he sat a nearby table by himself, lost in thought. Drew had just walked towards the hallway to see Paul passing him by. Drew gave him a look and began to walk down the hall, with Paul reluctantly following behind him, noticing Ash talking to May before he lost sight of them, putting together the puzzle between them and Drew in his head. To Alex, everyone was accounted for. Everyone except for one certain coordinator, who had managed to sneak up behind him with her Piplup riding on her head, but not outside of his knowledge.

"Hey Dawn," Alex said with a grin, causing Dawn to flinch from behind him.

"How'd you know I was behind you?" Dawn asked suspiciously.

"It's a gift." Alex merely shrugged his shoulders. "Very few people can sneak up on me." Dawn shook the thought out of her head before she got closer to him, now trying to be discreet.

"Hey Alex, come with me." Dawn whispered to Alex, tugging on his jacket sleeve, catching him by surprise.

"What's up?" Alex whispered back nonchalantly, knowing what she wanted.

"I want a progress report." Dawn answered back with an excited look on her face. "Follow me."

Before Alex could protest, the young woman led Alex to the other side of the hall pulling him by his jacket sleeve, both being quiet enough to avoid suspicion from their friends. They turned the corner and Dawn looked around to see if anyone was listening in. Satisfied that no one else was there, she then turned to Alex.

"Okay Alex, we have some time now," Dawn whispered to him as she placed her Piplup off of her head and on the ground. "Now what did you find out from Ash? And don't you even think about keeping it to yourself."

"Very well, oh supreme leader." Alex snickered at the girl, which Dawn replied with an annoyed look.

"Not funny, _henchman_." Dawn fumed at the young man, wanting to know what he knew.

"What, you didn't mind that last night at dinner." Alex grinned at her, causing Dawn to blush slightly in embarrassment and growl in annoyance. "Fine, fine. The Kid really likes her, that's certain. But he's afraid that if he says something, it'll ruin his friendship with May. Brock knows too and he helped me come up with a plan to help bring those two together."

"What is it?" Dawn asked, now dying to know what he was talking about.

"You first." Alex grinned, not ready to end the game quite yet. Dawn shot him an annoyed look as Alex merely shrugged it off.

"Well, May seems to like Ash. Maybe not a full-blown crush, but she admit she liked the idea of having Ash as a boyfriend. That's the good news. The bad news is that she thinks the same way about Drew and well…"

"You're worried that Drew might pick up on that." Alex guessed.

"Bingo." Dawn answered him. "If we don't keep an eye on him, Ash might run into some serious trouble."

"And let's not forget about Paul while we're at it." Alex told her offhandedly. "He might be a thorn in our side while we do this."

"Why's that?" Dawn asked puzzled. "I mean I know that Paul's a jerk, but why would he care what we do?" And with that comment, Alex was caught off guard, sweating slightly at his little slip up.

"Well, he could interrupt Ash and May in the middle of something and piss both of them off or something like that." Alex quickly replied, catching a suspicious look from Dawn as he mumbled something under his breath, Dawn unable to make it out.

"So what did you come up with?" Dawn asked, ready to help out Alex.

"Just sit back and watch the show." Alex grinned as he pointed towards Ash and May, who were both caught up in their own conversation.

"That move you used at the end, that Counter Shield, where did that come from?!" May asked, her mind running a mile a minute now wanting to know everything that the boy did. "That looked like something out of a Contest!"

"It's just something I came up with," Ash tried to blow it off, attempting to act cool. The comment earned a snicker from Alex in the background, met by Dawn's elbow to his ribs, stopping the boy from going too far. "But, I came up with it while I was training to beat the Hearthome Gym Leader, Fantina. It ended helping me win, but she didn't make it easy for me." Ash started to laugh as he saw May look at him with a warm smile.

"You really have gotten stronger Ash." May smiled at him, her sapphire eyes glistening with pride in her friend. Ash felt as if he was going to be sucked into those beautiful eyes of hers. But he quickly averted his gaze before he let his thoughts go too far. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash could see Alex motioning him to ask her something while Dawn looked at him confused, immediately understanding what he meant as he quickly turned towards May.

"Hey May, there's something I wanted to ask you." Ash started, trying to keep growing blush in check.

"What is it?" May asked, now curious.

"W-well," Ash fought to get the words out. "After the first round, I was wondering, I mean if you weren't doing anything, if you…"

"Will you just spit it out?!" Alex whispered loudly, unable to take the suspense. Dawn quickly placed a hand over Alex's mouth to stop him and checked to see if Ash or May heard them. Neither did, allowing Dawn to let out a sigh as the two continued to talk.

"If you wanted to take a look around town with me?" Ash finished, looking at May with worry over what she would say.

"Sure, sounds like fun." Ash smiled at her comment, starting to feel on cloud nine. However, her next comment quickly shot down that happiness. "I'm sure Dawn and Brock would love to see the town too, we could-."

"I-I mean just you and me, just us." Ash blurted out loudly, now regretting what he just said. People around him turned around startled, wondering about what he was doing, as everyone quickly turned back around, knowing that the conversation was none of their business. His answer was a surprised look from May, who couldn't believe he just said that.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Dawn almost screamed out in shock, this time Alex covering her mouth with his hand so not to draw attention to them.

"O-oh." May replied as a slight blush ran across her cheeks, with Ash not noticing. May quickly composed herself and gave him a big smile. "I'd love to! Sounds fun!"

"R-really?" Ash confirmed, believing that he heard her wrong. May nodded her head at the young man, now fighting her own blush. Ash had to resist jumping up and down with joy when she said "yes." He tried his best to compose himself and continued. "Okay, how about we meet in front of the Pokémon Center after the first round finishes up?"

"Okay, sounds like a plan." May replied, feeling slightly nervous herself. Meanwhile, Dawn was fighting off Alex's attempts to keep her quiet, finally squirming out of his grip.

"You already got him to ask her out?!" Dawn whispered loudly, not believing what happened. "How'd you do that?! Ash barely knew he had feelings for May and now you got him this far."

"What can I say? When I put my mind to something, I can get things done." Alex grinned, feeling pretty proud of himself.

"Sheesh," Dawn sighed, both impressed and annoyed at the young man. "I can't believe you actually got him to come up with that, let alone get him to do it."

"Actually, when we suggested it, Ash was pretty pumped by the idea." Alex pointed out. "I guess he thought of it like a battle." Alex chuckled as he thought back to their conversation last night.

"The only way Ash knows how to deal with a problem is to tackle it head on." Dawn laughed to herself.

"I guess so." Alex returned the chuckle. "So now what? We know what's gonna happen. What's our next move?"

"Well," Dawn started as an evil little grin grew slowly on her face, a plan formulating in her mind once again. "Since this is Ash's first date, we can't really trust him to not mess this up somehow. I figured since we're his friends, we have an obligation to make sure we're there to offer moral support."

"You just want to spy on them don't you?" Alex asked deadpanned as he sweatdropped.

"Are you going to stop me?" Dawn asked mischievously, wearing the same grin.

"Let me get this straight. Those two, who we call 'our friends' are about to embark on something that every teenager stresses over, and you want to fan the flames of this important milestone by spying on them?" Alex asked rhetorically, sounding almost disgusted.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Dawn answered ashamed, pressing her two index fingers together nervously.

"Dawn, I only have one thing to say to you…" Alex said with a serious voice, waiting for a few seconds before giving his own evil grin. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner? I would have made plans by now." And with this, Dawn couldn't help but fall over in disbelief, shocked that Alex would go that far. The young man was now laughing to himself, now enjoying her reaction while the girl herself became seriously annoyed.

"Seriously?!" Dawn fumed at Alex, the vein in her head now throbbing. She began to breathe slowly as she stopped herself from hurting the young man. "Honestly Alex, I'm surprised that no one has beaten you up for some of the stuff you say and do."

"A lot of people have tried a lot worse, but by some blessing or curse, I always make it through somehow." Alex replied nonchalantly as he walked away, acting as if the comment was no big deal. However, Dawn merely stood there surprised, trying to understand what he meant by that comment. Before she could ask, she heard a voice coming from the front desk.

"Excuse me, Ash Ketchum and Alex Mercer?" Nurse Joy called from her desk. "Your Pokémon have finished their examinations." Sitting on the desk was Pikachu with Lucario standing right behind the desk next to Nurse Joy.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called out to his partner as he bounded off the desk and towards Ash. Lucario jumped onto the desk and in front of the desk, surprising Nurse Joy as he walked towards Alex, wearing the same serious look on his face.

"Hey Pikachu!" Ash said as Pikachu made his way up to his trainer's shoulder. "How are you feeling buddy?"

"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu replied happily. However, Lucario didn't share his enthusiasm as he made his way to his trainer. Alex merely looked at Lucario with his own look of worry on his face as the Pokémon walked to his side. Before he could ask him what was wrong, the group heard Nurse Joy once again from her desk.

"Attention, the last match of Block A will start in 10 minutes." Nurse Joy announced over the intercom. "Will May and Dawn please report to the stadium?"

"That's our cue." May said as she turned to Dawn. "You ready to do this?"

"You know it." Dawn answered with confidence as both Barry and Conway came towards the group.

"Hey guys," Brock said as he made his way over to the group along with Tobias, the group now started to come together again, minus Drew and Paul. "We should probably head back to the stadium before we're late for the match."

"Hey, Lucario and I are gonna make our way to the stadium on our own. I'll meet you there." Alex called out to his friends in a hurry as he looked at Lucario, a serious glint in his eyes. Lucario simply nodded as he walked with him out the door, before their friends could even call out to them, leaving them to walk to the stadium themselves. As the trainer and Pokémon walked to the stadium, Alex looked to Lucario with both worry and annoyance on his face. Very rarely did Lucario act like this, and Alex was about to find out why.

"Hey Lucario, you alright?" Alex asked his partner as they walked down the road who never removed the serious look on his face. He made no grunt or groan, only looking at him for a few seconds as Alex gave out a slight laugh. "Come on man, don't say things like that, I'm just trying to help out. You didn't say a word at what I said, and it was a freaking softball man." Lucario gave an annoyed grunt at his trainer, this time actually surprising him. "What's gotten into you?" Lucario merely turned away with the same serious look on his face as he started to walk away from his trainer.

"Pikachu's the aura you sensed before, isn't he?" Lucario turned around and looked at his trainer, surprised that he figured it out so quickly, the boy now wearing a proud smile on his face. "You always were easy to read." Alex replied, earning a scowl from Lucario but at the same time giving him a questioning look. "I had a feeling it was that little guy, ever since we saw him yesterday. But I didn't know for sure, until after all those big moves he pulled off." Lucario's scowl started to fade as his serious look returned, and Alex wearing a similar look as well. "We'll need to keep an eye on him and Ash to see if they show any promise." Alex said as an expecting grin grew on his face. "With any luck, he may be just the person we've been looking for…"

"Hey guys!" A voice called out to them. They turned around to see Ash calling out to them, with the rest of the group right behind him. Alex gave the group a slight wave wearing an embarrassed grin. The group walked up to the two of them with both concerned and annoyed looks on their faces, obviously not amused by the young man's sudden disappearance.

"Alex, what was that all about?" May asked him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just some guy talk. Nothing major." Alex grinned, trying to dodge another bullet. "Right, Lucario?" This time, Lucario gave an affirmative grunt, now doing it with his usual smirk instead of the scowl on his face, showing Alex that he was getting back to normal. The group continued to walk towards the stadium as Ash tried to introduce himself to Tobias, who merely replied with a polite nod to him, saying only what he needed. All the while, Conway, who had been watching from behind, began to remember where he had seen the trainer before. However, he couldn't remember exactly where he saw him yet, but wasn't ready to give up quite yet. Before long, the group finally made it to the stadium, walking through the entrance and the locker room before stopping in the hallway leading to the battlefield. The girls stood near the entrance of the hallway as Dawn recalled Piplup into its Poké Ball, the two looking back at their friends with confidence.

"Good luck you two!" Ash called out to the girls.

"Do your best." Brock told them.

"Kick some ass!" Alex added while throwing a fist into the air. The girls gave the group a quick wave before walking out to the stadium, the rest of the group walking up to the stands when they were out of sight. While they walked out to the hallway, the girls passed by two trainers who had just finished their match. One was a young man about their age wearing a reddish-brown shirt with a chain necklace over it with black jeans and black dress shoes. He wore two dark leather belts that both hung on the loops of one side of his pants, making an x-shape, matching the color of his long leather jacket. He had matted brown hair that completely came over one of his eyes, his un-obscured violet eye giving a quick look at the girls, causing them to shiver from the young man's darker atmosphere. However, his partner seemed to be the more normal of the two. Like the girls, she was about the same age as them with a more optimistic look on her face than her partner. She wore a blue top with a white cotton jacket, a semi-short white skirt with blue and black lines down the sides, and white tennis shoes. The small diamond necklace around her neck brought out the color of her clear, light blue eyes. Her long, dark red hair flowed freely as she walked by, kept out of her face by the two hair clips on her right side. Unlike her partner, she gave a polite smile to the two girls. May and Dawn walked by them, unable to tell what the two were thinking. But they quickly put it out of their minds as they walked out to the stadium, greeted by the mass roars and applause of the audience, all ready for another battle.

"Well that was an amazing battle wasn't it folks?!" Lilith called out to the crowd who responded with a roar of applause. "Now let's move on to the last battle of Block A! On my left are May and Dawn, and on my right are Zachariah and Marshall. Both teams please step forward." The girls stepped up to see a tan-skinned man with short, buzzed brown hair, wearing a dark blue top with white pants, with black slip-on shoes and sweat bands. The man locked onto his opponents with a focused, serious gaze, ready to take on whatever they threw at him. At his side stood a young man much shorter than him, wearing a smirk on his face. He wore a white sweat shirt with orange reaching from the sides of it to his front pockets with white pants that had the same orange stripes matching the shirt, and white and orange tennis shoes. Unlike his partner, his face was concealed by his sweat shirt hood, covering most of his spiky blonde hair. The young man stared down May and Dawn, thinking that this was going to be over very quickly, much to the girls' annoyance. The referee walked over to his place in the center of the stadium, out of the way of the battlefield.

"Now trainers, present your Pokémon." The referee called out to the two teams.

"Blaziken, take the stage!" May called out her Pokémon. The device she threw revealed a tall, bipedal avian with dark red feathers on her legs and chest, with orange feathers on her lower legs and white feathers all around her upper chest and head, leading into a flowing hair of white feathers on her head. Her sharp, gray talons began to curl into a fist as she readied herself.

"Piplup, spotlight!" Dawn called out her starter from his Poké Ball, revealing the little Penguin Pokémon as it waddled in the air before landing on the ground ready to battle.

"Sceptile, prepare to fight!" Zachariah threw his Poké Ball into the air, revealing a large reptilian Pokémon with light green skin with a red band around its lower body, its tail in the shape of a large, dark green tree trunk. On its back were several small yellow bulbs leading up to its long, slender neck, stopping at a red lower jaw and a green head. It readied its sharp claws at Blaziken as it pointed the small leaves on its forearms to its opponents.

"Scyther, blow them away!" Marshall threw his Poké Ball, revealing a large mantis-like Pokémon with bright green scales. The Pokémon had strong legs that led into two small claws on its toes, its joints being a light tan color that matched the small clear wings on its back. But its most noticeable features were the scythes on its arms that it used for it hands, the blades curved and sharp, ready to slice apart his prey. The two teams and their Pokémon stared each other down, neither side flinching, ready to start the battle.

"Now, let the battle begin!" The referee called out to the trainers.

"Blaziken, use Fire Spin on Sceptile!" May called out to her Pokémon.

"Blaz-i-KEN!" Blaziken roared out as she began to gather energy inside of her body and opened her red beak, unleashing a large spiral of fire speeding right towards the Forest Pokémon, the flames actually shining with a kind of radiance as it danced across the field.

"Piplup, use Peck on Scyther!" Dawn ordered. Piplup began to run towards the Mantis Pokémon as its beak began to glow a bright white, its beak extending as the energy built up.

"Sceptile, block it with Rock Tomb." Zachariah ordered as he took a fighting stance. Sceptile brought his arms over his head and began to focus energy between his claws. The energy formed into a large rock that continued to grow and grow until it became a giant boulder. Sceptile then threw the boulder at the Fire Spin, meeting the flames head on as the heat began to heat the rock, but not enough to push it back. The boulder shattered as the spiral dissipated, much to Blaziken's surprise.

"Dodge and knock it back," Marshall ordered with a smirk. As Piplup lunged towards Scyther, it quickly turned its body away from the Peck attack, leaving Piplup hitting nothing but air. The shocked Pokémon had no time to react as Scyther brought one of his scythes and hit it with the flat part of the blade, sending Piplup flying towards his partner, screaming with its eyes closed as it flew through the air.

"Blaziken, catch Piplup!" May called out to her partner. Blaziken moved in front of the speeding penguin and caught him in her talons. Piplup stopped screaming and opened its eyes to see Blaziken looking back at it. Piplup now looked towards his opponents, now ready to fight. Meanwhile, Ash and the group had made their way to the stands and were now watching the fight. They found both Paul and Drew standing together away from the group, Drew watching the battle with a growing interest, while Paul merely looked out of boredom.

"So it's Blaziken and Piplup versus Sceptile and Scyther." Ash mentioned as he watched the battle.

"So what's your take on this Brock?" Alex asked as he leaned against the railing. "How do you think our girls are going to fare?"

"Since Sceptile's a Grass-Type, Piplup would be at a disadvantage. But since Blaziken's a Fire-Type and Scyther's a Bug-Type, it doesn't look good for Zachariah and Marshall." Brock explained.

"Both Sceptile and Scyther would get peppered by Blaziken's Fire-Type moves if she can get close enough." Barry replied as he leaned in closer to the fight from the stands.

"So why would they both pick Pokémon that basically have the same weakness?" Conway asked himself.

"I just hope your friends are ready for what may happen." Tobias said solemnly. The group looked on to see Blaziken and Piplup ready to counterattack, their trainers sharing their sentiments.

"Hey Dawn, follow my lead." May said as she turned to Dawn before turning to back to Blaziken. "Blaziken, throw Piplup into the air!" Blaziken looked at Piplup who gave her an affirmative nod, signaling to go forward with the plan. Blaziken threw Piplup with all her might into the air and Piplup soared high above their heads, getting a bird's-eye view of the stadium.

"Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!" May ordered. Blaziken ran across the stadium at an amazing pace and jumped towards Sceptile and Scyther. Its foot started to engulf itself in an inferno, now aimed at the two Pokémon. Zachariah started to move into another fighting stance, but Marshall simply raised a hand to stop him from giving another command yet.

"Hey Zach, I've got this." Marshall grinned. "Use Air Slash." And with that, Scyther raised one scythe into the air and began to spin it around in a circle, gathering the surrounding air, whipping it into a ball of violent wind. Scyther threw the ball of wind towards Blaziken and the two attacks collided once again. This time however, Blaziken was more in her element, using a close-range attack as she pushed through the Air Slash. The attack dissipated and the wind released back into the open, kicking up a cloud of dust. Blaziken tried to hit Scyther with its kick, but Scyther was just faster as it backed up quickly near its trainer without so much as a burn mark.

"Piplup, use Whirlpool!" Dawn called out to her Pokémon. And as Piplup fell, he began to gather energy in his body, turning his entire body blue as a large whirlpool of water formed above his head, growing larger and larger as he concentrated. Piplup's body returned to normal and aimed the attack right at Sceptile, throwing the large Water-Type attack towards him.

"All yours, Zach." Marshall smirked to his partner.

"Sceptile, use Leaf Storm!" Zachariah commanded as he thrust both of his palms towards the Whirlpool. Sceptile began to call a massive swarm of glowing leaves around his body, infused with his energy. He then fired the storm of leaves towards the Whirlpool, and the Grass-Type attack sliced through the water and Piplup along with it. Piplup began to stop its descent and fall straight down, but the Whirlpool still sped towards the Grass-Type, nailing it straight on but without much effect. Piplup once again fell into the arms of a waiting Blaziken, this time Blaziken placing her partner on the ground as both Pokémon started to glare at their opponents. However, both Zachariah and Marshall had begun to smirk as their Pokémon got ready to really take off.

"Hey Zach, you ready to pull out our combo move?" Marshall asked as he looked towards the battlefield.

"Yes, I am." Zachariah merely answered, now taking a balanced stance, his legs spread evenly apart. "Now Sceptile…"

"Scyther…"

"Quick Attack!" The two trainers called out together. And with that, both Pokémon began to run towards their targets at blinding speed, leaving a silver trail as they ran. The two ran together in formation before reaching Blaziken and Piplup, as Sceptile started to circle them first as Scyther joined in as Sceptile got behind them. The two ran in a circle around Blaziken and Piplup, confusing the two Pokémon and their trainers as their opponents' forms began to blur as they ran faster and faster. The girls were shocked as they tried to see where both Sceptile and Scyther were, but Zachariah and Marshall had other ideas.

"Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!" Zachariah ordered. The leaves on Sceptile's arms began to glow as they formed into two curved twin blades. Sceptile focused its sharp yellow eyes on its targets as he waited for his partner to get ready.

"Scyther, X-Scissor!" Marshall called out. And with that, Scyther's scythes began to glow teal as he raised them apart. And with that, Sceptile sped out of the formation and quickly slashed both Blaziken and Piplup with its long blades, running back into formation as Scyther performed the same maneuver, bringing his scythes down in an X-shape onto the two Pokémon, quickly running back into formation. The two Pokémon continued this pattern: running, slashing, and moving back into formation, all at blinding speeds to the point where no one could accurately see what was happening. Both May and Dawn stared in horror as they saw what was happening, unable to think about how to get out of this. As the audience watched stunned at this technique, the group stared at what was happening, trying to figure out what they could do.

"This is bad." Brock gritted his teeth. "If May and Dawn don't do something, Blaziken and Piplup will be sliced to pieces!"

"But what can they do?" Barry asked rhetorically. "They can't even see them! How are they supposed to hit them?!"

"Whatever they do, they better do it quick." Alex gave his two cents, watching the battle anxiously.

"Come on! You got to get out of there!" Ash called out to the girls. As the girls looked on, May balled her fist, having enough of this.

"Blaziken, use Fire Spin!" May shouted out to her partner.

"Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn followed suit. Blaziken released another spiral of fire at the speeding Pokémon as Piplup gathered energy in his body and opening his beak, releasing a barrage of cerulean bubbles on the opposite side of Blaziken. However, both attacks missed as their opponents still continued to run, much to their surprise. Across the battlefield, they heard Marshall give a snarky laugh at the girls.

"How do you like our Mad Tempest formation?!" Marshall shouted to the girls. "No one's ever broken through this! And neither will you two. Now Scyther, X-Scissor!"

"Sceptile, Leaf Blade!" And with that, the two Pokémon ran out of formation and jumped away, now facing each other with Blaziken and Piplup in between. They quickly ran towards their targets with Sceptile rearing its blades and Scyther crossing its scythes. The two attacks connected as they sped away from their targets, now taking the opposite's place. Both Blaziken and Piplup reeled back as they felt the attacks collide, now both falling back from the damage.

"Blaziken!" May called out in horror.

"Piplup!" Dawn did the same.

"MAY! DAWN!" Ash yelled out to the crowd.

End of Chapter 8

Will May and Dawn be able to break free from Zachariah and Marshall's combination moves? What will be the results of the first round? And how will Ash fare in his most important battle to date with Dawn and Alex pulling the strings? You'll have to tune in to find out. Until then...


End file.
